Paul Silvi Averts Penalty By Shedding Investment

Paul Silvi almost got called for a penalty. But a last-minute check saved him.

KING-TV's top sportscaster is shedding his financial interest in Eastside Sports and Entertainment, the group that announced last Friday it would bring a minor-league hockey team and new arena to the Bellevue-Redmond area.

The reason? Silvi became aware that - ethically speaking - he was skating on thin ice.

It's against the policy of most TV stations, including KING, for news personnel to cover stories about enterprises in which they have a financial stake. The reason is obvious: A reporter could use his job to promote a given entity or cover up its failures, manipulating coverage for personal profit.

Nobody is suggesting Silvi would do that. But as KING news director Dave Lougee put it, "Paul clearly hadn't thought it through when he made the investment. When his name showed up as a local investor, that made him reflect."

It should be added, however, that he reflected until about 4:30 p.m. yesterday after a series of calls from this office questioning the potential conflict of interest.

As is the way of these things, Silvi - back in town from a two-week vacation - declined to discuss the matter directly.

Instead, the news of his divestiture was conveyed late yesterday via separate calls from Lougee and Michael Tuckman. Tuckman is both CEO of Eastside Sports and Entertainment and president and general manager of KING's soon-to-be-purchased sister station KONG-TV - and a close pal of Silvi's.

The short saga of Paul Silvi and his wayward skate begins with Tuckman, who made it clear that his invitation for Silvi to invest a year ago was a favor to an old friend with no strings attached.

Tuckman said Silvi's role was strictly monetary, that he never participated in any business meetings and that there was no scheme to use his high profile as a sportscaster to boost the new enterprise.

"I'm very conscious of his status as the No. 1-rated sportscaster in this town," said Tuckman, "I'd never put him in a position where he's reporting something on the air where he also has an interest in it."

But that's a call the news director makes - not the general manager of a related station.

And it's hard to imagine how Silvi, who does the 5, 6:30 and 11 p.m. sportscasts for KING plus the 10 p.m. version on KONG, would have dodged this topic. Eastside Sports and Entertainment's plans include an arena, a West Coast Hockey League franchise and indoor football, with KONG carrying some broadcasts.

Sure sounds like the sports beat. And even if Silvi wasn't publicized as a participant in the project, word has a way of getting around about the in-the-know anchor who's on to a hot deal.

Tuckman maintained he didn't see the conflict of interest. Good thing Silvi did.

It's getting mighty tough to make ethical decisions in a society full of 30-year-old Microsoft millionaires, stock traders and entertainment wunderkinds. KCPQ-TV news director Todd Mokhtari noted when discussing his station's policy, "These days, it's like, what's your job and what else are you doing to get rich?"

That goes double for reporters, many of whom are - as a fellow critic and close friend likes to say - forced to take a vow of poverty. News organizations, deluded that this is 1950 and journalists will live on Cheerios and scotch for the nobility of their profession, pay poorly compared to most businesses.

Yet every day, they send us out to break stories that could earn lots of dough for someone willing to use the information. Businesses about to go public. Or split their stock. Or unveil a new piece of software.

But some of us are lucky and work for places where ethical policy is backed by wages that curb temptation. And if there's any job in journalism that's well-paid, it's a big-market television anchor.

Silvi is an experienced newsman who's been in the business a long time. Even before his period of reflection yesterday, it ought to have occurred to him that he was crossing the line.

Without a firsthand explanation, it's hard to know if he's sorry he made the investment, or just sorry he got caught.