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Think the Larry Craig story was just a tabloid creature of late summertime?

Think again.

Eight men have now come forward in the Larry Craig story – for reasons that range from clear anger to admitted self-promotion – and they have told their stories to the Idaho Statesman, the newspaper that broke the story in late August. According to the Associated Press’ reporting of the matter:

Eight men say they either had sex with Sen. Larry Craig or were targets of sexual advances by the Idaho lawmaker at various times during his political career, a newspaper reported Sunday…

The newspaper identified four men and reported details of the encounters they say involved Craig. It also reported the accounts of four other men who did not agree to be identified but who described sexual advances or encounters involving the conservative Republican, who opposes same-sex marriage and has a strong record against gay rights.

It’s a blockbuster advancement in the story, no doubt. But seeing the coverage given the story all day Monday, a few questions occurred to me:

From a journalistic standpoint, does the fact that you’ve already broken the story make one’s job easier or harder?

If there wasn't already the initial Craig Story out there, would these allegations have the journalistic "oomph" to be considered news?

Does the threshold for news get lower once something is already "out there?"

I decided to put those questions to the Editor, Managing Editor and Political Columnist at the newspaper.

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