About the Story: The I-Team had done a series of reports over time on waste in local government. As often happens, those stories generated more tips. One tipster suggested taking a close look at travel by the County Engineer's staff. Travel expenses in that department had quadrupled from 1993 to 1997. County employees had attended two concrete conventions in Las Vegas in just twelve months, and had recently put in a request to go to another. The I-Team decided to follow them. A photographer/producer from the I-Team flew to Las Vegas a day before the convention began, carrying an easily concealed Hi-8 video camera. He scouted places from which he could monitor the three county employees. Over three days, he documented their comings and goings, using a camera that recorded the date and time on all video, so there would be no dispute over the authenticity of the tape.

Behind the Story: The I-Team knew it had gathered powerful evidence of a waste of taxpayer dollars. But the station wanted to do more than "gotcha" journalism and had a series of discussions during the story's development about fairness. Should they tell county officials about the tape before interviewing anyone? Should they ask questions about the trip first, then use the tape if the employees were not forthcoming? With the concurrence of News Director Jim Zarchin, it was agreed that they would request an interview with the senior member of the traveling trio, Dale Schmale, who had personally approved the trip. They would ask him to detail how he and his colleagues spent their time in Vegas. "If he 'fessed up, we wouldn't run the tape," says Stuart Zanger, who headed the I-team at the time. The task of interviewing Schmale fell to I-Team reporter Laure Quinlivan. "It was probably one of the hardest interviews I'd ever done," she says. Schmale's supervisor was in the room, out of camera range. The boss joked with Quinlivan before the interview, saying, "We don't have anything to hide." Quinlivan asked Schmale what the group did each day of the trip. Schmale's answers bore no resemblance to what the I-Team had observed. Then she showed Schmale WCPO's Vegas video. Quinlivan says Schmale's boss was stunned. And though she fully expected Schmale to walk out of the room as she played the damaging tape, he stayed, composed but somber. "I didn't want to hurt him," says Quinlivan, "but I had to ask him questions." The camera recorded every painful moment as Schmale admitted the tape was accurate.

Beyond the Story: Dale Schmale retired with full benefits. The other two men were suspended for six weeks without pay. All of them reimbursed the county for the full cost of the trip. The county announced it was changing the way employee travel would be scrutinized in the future, while taking a swipe at the investigation that prompted the changes. In a news release the County Engineer said, "With hidden cameras, the I-Team had captured three public employees goofing off, not the Unabomber." But WCPO had also approached this story cautiously, weighing each decision along the way.

• Station guidelines shape decisions. The station relied on past experience and its own internal guidelines in deciding to use hidden camera. At the time this story was produced, WCPO's I-Team had been operating for seven years. The I-Team's practice was to use hidden cameras only after weighing the seriousness of the topic and exploring alternative ways of getting the story. In this case, they believed that the story involved a significant public policy issue: misuse of public money. Previous I-Team investigations had revealed lax oversight of government workers in Cincinnati, and this story appeared to be more evidence of system flaws. In addition, I-Team leader Zanger believed the hidden camera was essential to document the workers' actions. There was no other way to nail down the facts. Without the tape, he felt, it would be the station's word against the employees, and the story would end there.
  
  
• Fairness is a guiding principle. Zanger says his philosophy in conducting investigations is: "Work as hard at disproving your theory as proving it. Always be willing to say, 'It's not here.'" The station made sure its evidence was airtight before confronting Schmale. The I-team also interviewed Schmale's immediate boss and the county auditor before airing the story. That extensive effort provided balance, depth and context to the story.