We had to make a tough call Friday morning about a story on Fredy Montero of the Seattle Sounders FC. It was an example of decisions we routinely face about whether to name people accused of crimes and how to cover questionable stories that appear in other media.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Web site had reported that Bellevue police were investigating Montero, the subject of our sports section cover story Thursday, after a woman claimed Montero sexually assaulted her and was stalking her. The story relied on unidentified law enforcement sources.

King County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said a preliminary investigation into the stalking allegation did not indicate a crime was committed. Montero had not been charged or arrested.

Under normal circumstances we don’t name a person who is merely accused of a crime. We wait until a prosecutor or a judge has had the opportunity to review the matter and decide that it should proceed.

Being accused does not make the allegation true, and it’s impossible to “unring the bell” once an allegation is attached to a person. We sometimes reconsider that when a public figure is involved.

Complicating things is the viral nature of the Internet. Several sources picked up the P-I report, and it was widespread on other Web sites, radio, etc. When that happens, our readers come to us for our take.

Managing Editor Dale Phelps and Sounders reporter Don Ruiz decided to post an item on the Sounders Insider blog. It linked to the P-I piece, detailed what Don learned in his own reporting and emphasized that Montero has not been charged with a crime.

Phelps and Ruiz reasoned that Montero was a public figure and that it was a fact that he was being investigated.

We also ran a short story on the situation in Saturday’s print edition.

It’s possible the allegations are baseless and we will have contributed to besmirching Montero’s reputation. It’s also possible he ultimately will be charged. Now it’s up to us to follow the story however it plays out.

FAREWELL

Two longtime members of our newsroom staff have decided to move on.

Soren Andersen came to The News Tribune in 1983 after working as a reporter, an editor and a movie critic for newspapers in California and for newspapers his father owned in Michigan.

A few months after arriving in Tacoma, Andersen made an offer to the editor.

“I said, ‘I notice you don’t have a movie reviewer. I’ll do it. I’ll do one a week,’” Anderson told me. Soon he had a full-time job reviewing movies for the TNT, something he did for more than 25 years.

Andersen said he often felt like he was getting away with something. He got paid to watch movies and write about them.

“It was my dream job,” he said. “I never took it for granted. I always knew how rare these gigs are.”

He remembered his first big movie-star interview, in 1987 with Gregory Peck, who was starring in “Amazing Grace and Chuck.” He recalled interviews with Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg and Mel Gibson, and quickly rattled off the titles of his favorite movies: “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Dr. Strangelove.”

Over the years, readers told us they waited to read Andersen’s reviews before deciding what to see on Friday night. Many agreed with his tastes and saw a four-star rating as a reason to go to the theater. Plenty of others thought Andersen was regularly way off base and would avoid anything he favored.

But love his tastes or hate them, our guy was consistent.

Few daily newspapers our size have a movie reviewer. TNT readers were fortunate to have Andersen for as long as we did.

Copy editor Rick Nelson also left recently after 21 years with our paper.

In addition to his full-time duties on the desk, Nelson wrote a local music column for our Friday GO section. He signed off March 20 and was gratified so many readers took the time to call or e-mail him.

He wrote me the following note about it:

“The kind words, comments and reminiscences have reminded me of something very basic about what we do: People who buy the paper and read us are letting us into their lives. They take part of their day to read what we pass along. Before we end up lining the birdcage, someone has decided that what we’re doing is important enough or entertaining enough to merit their time and attention.

“I know that’s obvious, but somehow, at the end of my time here, it just seems remarkable.

“I’m going to miss connecting with readers. On the other hand, I’m going to have a lot more time to listen to music.”

Actually, that might not be the case.

Nelson is leaving to be the full-time owner/editor/publisher of the Malheur Enterprise, a weekly newspaper in Vale, Ore. He’s been doing that long-distance while holding his job in Tacoma. He left excited about devoting his full attention to his new venture.

We wish him all the best.

Karen Peterson: 253-597-8434

karen.peterson@thenewstribune.com

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