TOLEDO BLADE Reporter fired over letter to prize panel

The letter to the Pulitzer Prize board criticized the paper's entry for the prize.
TOLEDO (AP) -- The Blade has fired a veteran reporter who wrote an anonymous letter to the Pulitzer Prize board critical of the newspaper's entry for its work in uncovering the state's coin investment scandal.
George Tanber, a Blade reporter for 14 years, was fired Thursday for "displaying a pattern of conduct which was dishonest, inappropriate, or both," according to a story the newspaper published Sunday about the letter and The Blade's subsequent investigation.
The Blade was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzers in public service. The newspaper broke the story in April 2005 about a controversial state investment in rare coins managed by a prominent Republican fundraiser, Tom Noe. The scandal led to charges of theft against Noe and prompted Republican Gov. Bob Taft to plead no contest to ethics violations last year.
The letter claimed that the newspaper knew about problems with the investment in 2004, and tried to cover up that fact for fear its investigation would be discredited.
The Blade hired outside investigators to help identify the author, interviewed current and former employees and public officials and reviewed e-mail messages on Tanber's work laptop computer.
Tanber, who worked in the newspaper's Monroe, Mich., bureau and said he won awards for his reporting for The Blade, had been suspended indefinitely without pay after notifying Blade editors Tuesday that he wrote the letter.
His allegations
In an e-mail message to The Associated Press on Sunday, Tanber said he decided to become a source for outside reporters on stories about the newspaper's coverage of the investment scandal since he wasn't in a position to write about The Blade's coverage.
"The bottom line is that Coingate should have been reported at least a year earlier and that Blade editors, once they knew the story was intentionally ignored, should have disciplined the responsible reporter and informed its readers. That's what newspapers are supposed to do," Tanber wrote.
He said the newspaper examined two of his personal e-mail accounts without his permission as part of its investigation.
"I don't know if that's illegal, but it certainly raises serious questions that could have far-reaching ramifications," he wrote.
Editors respond
Blade editors deny that the newspaper acted unethically.
"The Blade and ethics are synonymous," John Robinson Block, publisher and editor-in-chief, said in the newspaper's Sunday story. "We're a victim of a disgruntled employee."
The letter did not challenge the accuracy of the stories. Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, has said it was not a factor in the judging. The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and The Sun Herald of south Mississippi won the public service award for their work after Hurricane Katrina devastated their home areas.
The Blade, which won a Pulitzer in 2004, has a daily circulation of about 140,000 and is owned by Block Communications Inc.