Journalists of my generation were taught that they are not part of the news.
We were there to bring the story to others, but inserting ourselves into the news story was something that just was not done.
Those lines are not always as distinct in today's news world of websites, bloggers and a 24/7 news cycle, but it still gives some of us -- OK, me -- a weird feeling when we do find ourselves in the middle of an ongoing story.
That was the case last week in the story about Envision Ogden and the investigation into its fundraising efforts.
I'm not going to rehash the whole story; if you missed it, you can find our stories on our website, www.standard.net.
My point here is the Standard-Examiner did find itself, inadvertently, as part of the story.
The report by the Department of Public Safety stated that the investigation started as the result of allegations made by a Standard-Examiner reporter.
That gave us pause, because it's not the job of our reporters to lodge allegations with law enforcement agencies.
The state released the investigative report to us under an open-records request last Monday.
A spokesman for the Department of Public Safety acknowledged in an interview that, rather than allegations made by a reporter, it was most likely an April 2009 story in the Standard-Examiner about the whole issue that helped start the investigation.
The headline on that story in Tuesday's paper, "S-E article sparked probe, says official," reflected that role in the investigation.
The line between making direct allegations and how one of our articles is used may be a distinction without a difference for some.
But it is important for us, and ultimately for readers, to have a clear understanding of the role our reporters and the newspaper itself play in presenting the news.
NEW REPORTER: Michael McFall is the newest reporter on the Standard-Examiner news staff.
He is our night police reporter, and you've already seen his byline on several stories.
Michael graduated from the University of Utah last spring with a degree in communication.
On the night police beat, Michael replaces Jasen Asay, who has transferred to our Davis County bureau in Layton to fill a staff vacancy there.
Michael grew up in Whittier, Calif., and chose Utah for school, in part because it provided him a change of scenery.
He worked at The Daily Utah Chronicle, the university's independent student newspaper, and when we hired him, he was doing an internship as a reporter for All Things Considered at KUER radio in Salt Lake City.
At KUER, he did get some air time in reporting on the Herriman wildfires.
He also filed a national piece for NPR on court action involving the driver of the tourist bus that crashed in Southern Utah.
Dave Greiling is managing editor of the Standard-Examiner. He may be reached at 801-625-4224 or via e-mail at dgreiling@standard.net.
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