Freep uses tech to publish rarely used word

The Detroit Free Press' unfolding investigation into controversial Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's extracurricular activities with his chief of staff is fascinating on several levels:

1. That no-no word. You hardly ever see newspapers reporting that someone "lied," unless that word appears in a public document; we're too afraid of getting sued. Even more rare: saying someone lied under oath. But in this investigation, the Freep itself is applying that charged word after using technology -- text messages -- to confidently prove its case.

2. The records: The Freep obtained and analyzed nearly 14,000 text messages from a pager-like device. I'm accustomed to seeing e-mail and instant messages from computers as sources, but not wireless handheld devices. The mystery: How did the Freep get them, if not through a conventional public records request? As near as I can tell, the story says only this about the messages: "The exchanges, which the Free Press obtained after the trial, cover two months each in 2002 and 2003." I'd also like to know what software they used to analyze all that text. Excel?

3. Great video: The paper is streaming video from key court testimony to show what the mayor and his chief of staff said in the past vs. what the text messages show now.

4. Cool print presentation: The package is very consumer friendly, with loads of Page One refers sending readers to online extras. (Click on the image, above, for a bigger view.) On technology reporter Mike Wedland's blog, for example, the paper gives consumer advice on a key question: How secure are your text messages?

The stories have certainly caught Mayor Kilpatrick's attention. The paper is now reporting that Kilpatrick and his family have decided to take a sudden, ahem, vacation in Florida. Stay tuned.

[Image: Newseum]