A case out of Arizona is impacting some Idaho journalists’ ability to get mugshots from sheriffs’ offices. 

Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Houston v. Maricopa County that Maricopa County had violated Brian Houston’s constitutional rights by publishing his mugshot on a website before his trial. The county-run website kept mugshots online for three days, allowing other sites to scrape that information and post it on their own pages. Ultimately, Houston’s chargers were dismissed, but his mugshot remained online elsewhere. 

The narrow decision said putting the mugshots online amounts to pretrial punishment – a violation of Houston’s Fourteenth Amendment due process rights.

In response, county sheriffs across Idaho, and in other states, are examining their own policies. As of Friday morning, Ada County still publishes mugshots and basic arrest information online. However, Nate Sunderland of East Idaho News tells me his staff has run into issues with Bannock, Custer, and Madison Counties declining to release mugshots because of the ruling.

Ultimately, Bannock and Madison changed course, agreeing to give out the photos in response to public records requests. And that’s the right move. Idaho’s open government laws are clear that those mugshots are public record. There are separate, and important, conversations that our industry continues to have about the ethics of publishing mugshots in the first place, but those are decisions that editors and journalists need to make, not the government.

It’s not yet clear how Idaho’s 40 other counties are responding to the ruling. I’m gathering more information, and in the meantime, if your newsroom runs into issues, please let me know at melissadavlin@gmail.com.

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Hometown: 
Amesbury, MA

Current job: 
Educator and reporter.
School of Journalism and Mass Media, U of I, faculty; news and sports reporter for Idaho Public Radio and Inside the Vandals

Tell us a bit more about your career path: 

I filed my first story as a news reporter as a college student in 1980 and have been working as a reporter ever since, mostly in the best medium ever devised, radio; but with some dabbling along the way in newspapers, television, and online. I also had a stop as a press secretary and legislative aide in the MA State Senate in ’93- ’95. Graduated from Dean College in ’82 and the University of Maryland in ’84 and ’85.

What drew you to journalism? 

Looking back, it just seems like it was always there—a love of broadcasting, news and sports, and things media. I fondly recall: being unbelievably excited when my Dad carried our first color television into the house; the utter joy of listening to Ned Martin call Red Sox games on the radio; discovering Star Trek and science fiction in general; being amazed at the radio adaptation of Dracula by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre; watching Jack Hynes read the news and Bob Copeland do the weather on Boston television; working in college radio at WGAO and WMUC. A whole host of these and other things that go back as far as I can remember.

What are some memorable moments from your career?

Without question the highlight of my professional career is watching students I have interacted with move on to happy lives and success.
 
In journalism, too many interesting stories and interviews to count. Talking with Gene Roddenberry and Charlton Heston and David Halberstam was fun; so were lots of other interviews. Doing stories on coastal erosion on Cape Cod in the late 80s and a state budget crisis in Massachusetts about 1990 stuck with me. So did covering local reaction to 9/11, COVID. Lots. A simple motto: do the damn news and have a helluva ride.

Who is your journalism hero, and why? 

A tie— Ed Murrow/David Brinkley/Peter Jennings. Pros. Brinkley’s 1989 commentary on how the IRS will continue to collect taxes in the event of a nuclear attack is the top shelf in the history of television commentary, no discussion.

You didn’t ask, but: Favorite fictional portrayal of a reporter—Bogart as Ed Hutcheson, Deadline USA, 1952. “That’s the press, baby.”

What do you do when you aren’t working? 

When is that, that I’m not working?

Family. Good television. Interesting movies. Books. Red Sox. A whiskey and ginger ale. Hearing from former students. Walking while listening to good audio. 

IDAHO STATESMAN

Carolyn Komatsoulis joined the Idaho Statesman as a breaking news and Latino Affairs reporter in June. She previously worked at the Idaho Press. 

Rose Evans joins the Idaho Statesman in September as the Meridian/suburbs reporter. She’s a 2023 graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont. She replaced Rachel Spacek, who accepted a position at InvestigateWest.

Shaun Goodwin became the interim Boise State athletics reporter for the Idaho Statesman in August. He replaced Ron Counts, who moved to California. Shaun has been a service reporter at the Statesman for two and a half years.

IDAHO PRESS

New reporter Kelly Holm takes over the Caldwell beat; she is a Wisconsin native who attended Hamline University for undergrad and the University of Wisconsin for graduate school where she received a masters degree in journalism. She also held a reporter job at The Lakeland Times (Wisc.) from Sept. 2021-Aug. 2022 before going to grad school.

She replaces Erin Rusby Banks, who left for BoiseDev. Former city of Boise and Ada County reporter Carolyn Komatsoulis left for the Idaho Statesman.

Royce McCandless is a University of Idaho graduate who covers the city of Boise and Ada County for the Press. He is a graduate of Timberline High School and also served as an intern and freelance writer for the Idaho Business Review while in college.

Both new reporters share a wide range of interests outside of their immediate beats.

BOISE DEV

Erin Banks Rusby joined BoiseDev as a reporter; she previously worked as a reporter for the Idaho Press. Autum Robertson has left her role as a full-time reporter, but is now doing contract work.

IDAHO EDUCATION NEWS

Reporter Emma Epperly is leaving The Spokesman-Review after five years to launch a North Idaho bureau for Idaho Education News. Emma will live and work in the Inland Northwest, covering education policy implementation and how it relates to teaching, learning and student achievement. She’ll follow school board meetings and higher education developments in the Northern region of Idaho. She’ll also focus on Idaho’s charter school movement. Emma’s first day with Idaho Education News will be Sept. 20. 

EAST IDAHO NEWS

Veteran EastIdahoNews.com reporter Kalama Hines was recently promoted to sports director to head the new East Idaho Sports department. He has spent the last four years as a general assignment reporter in Pocatello. He previously covered sports in California. 

Allan Steele, the sports director at the Idaho Falls Post Register, was recently hired as a reporter by EastIdahoNews.com to help with the launch of East Idaho Sports. He led the Post Register sports program since 2019 and, more recently, ran the sports department at the Rexburg Standard Journal. He comes to EastIdahoNews.com with three decades of experience.

KTVB-TV

After more than 40 years, “Idaho’s Chief Meteorologist” Rick Lantz will be retiring on September 26th. Rick came to the Treasure Valley in 1969. He began his broadcasting career in 1975 working in both radio and television in Weiser, Caldwell, Nampa and Boise. He has been bringing you the weather forecast for over 40 years on Idaho’s NewsChannel 7.

Rachel Garceau has been promoted to chief meteorologist. Hector Mendoza has been promoted to weather anchor for Wake Up Idaho.

Andrew Baertlein left KTVB to move closer to home. He is now reporting for KHQ-TV Spokane. Aspen Shumpert joined KTVB and The 208 team as an multi-skilled journalist after 2 years at The News Tribune.

Daisy Bautista, former VOCES intern and current senior at Boise State University, joined KTVB part-time as a producer for KTVB en Espanol. Victoria Rodriguez, current senior at Boise State University, completed her VOCES internship this summer working with the KTVB en Espanol team.

Abby Wilt graduated from Pepperdine University and started her career with KTVB as a multi-skilled journalist. Hunter Funk came home to Idaho from WFMY in Greensboro, N.C. as an anchor for the News at 6 and reporter for The 208. 

Jude Binkley was promoted from a multi-skilled journalist to weekend anchor/multi-skilled journalist. Audrielle Tackett graduated from the University of Southern California and began her career at KTVB as an multi-skilled journalist.

Austin Boyd was promoted from newscast editor to news photographer. Caitlynn Spear graduated from College of Western Idaho and began her career as the newscast editor for Wake Up Idaho. Carsen Cloud graduated from Boise State University to become a producer-in-residence. Sonora Birnie was promoted from Wake Up Idaho producer to KTVB’s assignment editor. 

Logan Schenk was promoted from news photographer to Wake Up Idaho producer. Emma Adams was promoted from the News at 4 producer to the Idaho Today producer. Vera Valdez has been promoted from production assistant to news producer.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Mike Sharp has left his position as director of media relations for Boise State University for a new job as communications director for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services in Baltimore. Mike, a former longtime Idaho journalist and media professional, previously worked as a reporter, anchor and host for radio, print and TV outlets in the Treasure Valley, and for four years as the public relations coordinator for the Idaho Foodbank. He joined BSU in 2021.

Clark Corbin of the Idaho Capital Sun put out a story earlier this week about the Idaho Republican Party’s decision to disallow media coverage from inside caucus locations on March 2. 

I’m disappointed that the party is conducting this high-interest event in secret, particularly after years of Republican candidates questioning election integrity. Transparency benefits everyone, from the voters of Idaho to the officials charged with running the caucus sites and tabulating votes. On a day when the nation’s eyes will be on Idaho, this decision affects our ability to get information to the public in a timely manner, and we won’t be able to independently verify that the events ran smoothly. 

Two things to keep in mind: Reporters who are registered Republicans are allowed to go to into caucus sites, and we can still report from outside caucus sites. Still, we hope the GOP will change course before the next presidential caucus, and in the name of transparency and election integrity, we’ll continue to encourage them to do so. 
 
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out. My e-mail is melissadavlin@gmail.com.

NOTE: This column first appeared on BoiseDev, November 16, 2023; it is reprinted here by permission.

For decades, getting news about your local area meant one of two options: a printed newspaper delivered to your doorstep or watching a couple of nicely dressed folks read you information on your TV.

But the last 25 years have largely eroded both of those models as news shifts largely to digital consumption. In Boise, the Idaho Statesman recently stopped printing six days per week, instead cutting to three days delivered in the afternoon by US Mail. Now, television station KIVI channel 6 is also making a major change.

Gone are the trappings of the traditional local TV newscast format. No anchors, no fancy set, or even a pre-recorded announcer voice. 

In its place is a steady stream of local stories. 

There’s Allie Triepke in Kuna. And Brendyn Jones in Downtown Boise. And Isaiah Sharp in Meridian.

The names of the team largely aren’t familiar – a corps of newly recruited reporters filing stories from their neighborhoods. 

“We’re doubling our commitment to bringing Boise-area audiences the news they want to hear,” station manager Laurie Asin said. “They did a lot of research locally and nationally, and people said they wanted more relevant coverage in their communities and putting more emphasis on engaging with the audience and connecting with them. That’s why we’re putting those neighborhood journalists into the areas they’ll cover.”

Don Nelson, who is one of the Boise market’s longest-tenured journalists and formerly anchored evening newscasts, is now a senior reporter, as is Roland Beres. Karen Lehr took a management role as executive reporter, helping coach and develop the group of journalists.

In addition to areas around Boise and Canyon County, Asin said they plan to place reporters in Valley County and Blaine County – as well as a reporter already in place in Twin Falls.

Cincinnati-based station owner EW Scripps is using a technology it calls Scrippscast to power the newscasts.  KIVI laid off a number of employees last month, as BoiseDev reported. Some landed new roles. The KIVI website lists 12 full-time reporters – that’s more than double the number of dedicated reporters at the area’s other two TV stations. (Though some folks at the other stations pull double duty, anchoring newscasts as well as occasional or part-time reporting.)

The Scrippscast-powered newscasts lend a bit of a TikTok effect – a series of videos strung together one after another, broken up only by commercial breaks — and of course, weather forecasts.  Market mainstay Scott Dorval still shows up giving a traditional TV news-style weather forecast, while a morning weather anchor does the same, mixing in traffic reports, too.

The newscasts no longer have a guiding voice or voices – and short items often pop up with voices you may or may not recognize. 

With the change in format, the station added a new 11 am midday newscast.

Don Day is the founder and publisher of BoiseDev and is a member of the Idaho Press Club board.

Hometown: 

I grew up in Cardston, Alberta, Canada. But I’ve lived in eastern Idaho for more than two decades now, and claim Idaho Falls as my home.  

Current job: 

I’m the co-founder and managing editor of East Idaho News in Idaho Falls. I’ve been working in online media since 2015. Before that I worked for various Idaho newspapers and did a great deal of freelancing. 

Tell us about your family: 

I met my wife Amy in Rexburg while attending Brigham Young University-Idaho. After graduating we decided to stay in eastern Idaho. We’ve raised three boys in Idaho Falls. 

What first drew you to journalism?

I became interested in video editing in high school, and chose to continue pursuing that passion at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg. While learning about video, I was exposed to broadcast journalism, and I quickly fell in love with putting together and telling good stories. 

I had hoped to get a job in television, but it was the height of the recession, and the jobs were hard to come by. I took a job at a local newspaper, and I found it was just as fun to assemble a story with words as it was with video clips. 

Eventually, I found online journalism and discovered I could combine the two medias. I’ve never looked back. 

What’s your dream job? 

The best part of my career has been developing a news company that has thrived and continues to grow, when so many others are shrinking or closing.  

My dream job would be to oversee and manage a much larger news company and pioneer ways to be successfully journalistically and financially for many years into the future.  

Who is your journalism hero, and why?

I’m a big fan of Ezra Klein, the co-founder and former editor-at-large for Vox.com. It’s not his journalism, or his opinion columns that impress me though. It’s the risk he took in developing an innovative online news platform that was unique for its time. 

He proved you could have a financially successful online-only platform and that you could tell stories in a variety of different ways and on different platforms. He is truly an innovator. 

Do you have any pets?

No pets! Not my thing. 

Hobbies?

I enjoy weight-lifting — and have an obsession with collecting cool-looking kettlebells and weighted hammers. On very rare occasions, I enjoy a video game. 

Sarah Cutler joined the Idaho Statesman in Januaryas the City of Boise reporter. She earned a master’s degree from Columbia and most recently was a fellow at PBS NewsHour.

KTVB

Meteorologist Jim Duthie retired after 25 years forecasting in the Treasure Valley.

Rachel Garceau joined the Wake Up Idaho team.

Hector Mendoza has been promoted from a multi-skilled journalist to MSJ for Wake Up Idaho/weather anchor. He continues to serve our Spanish-speaking audience on the KTVB en Espanol team.

Brenda Rodriguez and Joe Parris are co-anchoring the News at 4.

KIVI Idaho News 6

Vania Campos, a native Idahoan, starts her broadcast career as our new Caldwell neighborhood reporter. Riley Shoemaker left the Big Apple and a producer job with Fox to be closer to relatives in Sun Valley and is now our South Boise neighborhood reporter.

Keith Burrell, former KIVI director and native Idahoan, has moved to a new role in front of the camera as our Nampa neighborhood reporter. Lorien Nettleton left the Magic Valley Time-News to become our Twin Falls neighborhood reporter for KIVI and KSAW covering issues in the Magic Valley.

Alexander Huddleston joined our team of reporters in 2023 after graduating from Washington State University and covers neighborhoods in Eagle, Star, and North Meridian. Jessica Davis joins our team of reporters from WBBJ in Tennessee and covers the Boise Bench and Southeast Boise.

Allie Triepke joined our team in May of 2023 and is now the South Meridian and Kuna neighborhood reporter. Isaiah Sharp moves from the weekend anchor desk to become our Garden City, West Boise, and Foothills neighborhood reporter.

Sophia Cruz recently graduated from Sam Houston University in Texas and joins our Good Morning Idaho team delivering weather and traffic every weekday morning.

Doug Lock-Smith continues his work behind the camera as our Specialty Photographer, working primarily with Don Nelson and neighborhood MMJ’s to elevate our visual storytelling.

Lynzsea Williams also continues her visual journalism work as a Specialty Photographer, working primarily with Roland Beres and our morning team to elevate visual storytelling.

Karen Lehr, former Idaho News 6 anchor and reporter, transitions to a new management position as our Executive Reporter coaching our team of neighborhood reporters. 

Don Nelson continues as Idaho News 6 lead journalist in a new role. Don is our Senior Reporter, covering stories daily in the community for our early evening newscasts. Roland Beres also continues in a lead role as our other Idaho News 6 Senior reporter, covering daily stories in the community for our morning newscasts.