Enron Trial Offers Plethora of Coverage Angles

By Kevin Sweeney
February 1, 2006 02:13 PM

Constant news flowing out of the trial of former Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling has kept business reporters on high alert.

Following the seating of a jury in a single day on Monday, opening statements were heard on Tuesday and witnesses began testifying today. It's a whirlwind of events that have put into motion what will likely be the final chapter of the monumental collapse of the former energy giant.

With the trial (and former Enron headquarters) based in Houston, the hometown Houston Chronicle has extensive coverage of the trial. And the greater Houston community has a vested interest in its outcome, with thousands of employees' retirement savings wiped out by the demise of Enron.

Although lawyers for the defense wanted the trial to be moved out of Houston, the district judge quickly found 12 men and women who would ultimately determine the fates of Skilling and Lay.

"The 16 members of the jury panel deciding the fate of former Enron chiefs Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling share little beyond the belief they can fairly decide the conspiracy and fraud case," writes Mark Babineck of the Chronicle. "A transcript of U.S. District Judge Sim Lake's individual interviews with the pool of Houston-area citizens, released Tuesday, shows the members were selected after Lake allowed lawyers from both sides to pose brief questions."

Beyond the jury and local community, this trial has attracted journalists from all over the country. International datelines are represented as well, underscoring its global reach. The Chronicle's Mike Tolson reports that such countries as France, Germany and Norway had journalists on hand in Houston to cover the story.

"The name Enron has become synonymous with corporate greed and corruption," according to Shawn McCarthy of The Globe and Mail in Toronto. "Its 2001 failure was the first and most notorious in a string of business fraud cases that rocked financial markets and forced government to overhaul corporate governance rules."

McCarthy followed with separate stories on the opening statements of both the prosecution and the defense.

Bruce Nichols of The Dallas Morning News reported on the first day of testimony of one of the prosecution's star witnesses: Mark Koenig, Enron's former director of investor relations.

"The man in charge of investor relations at Enron testified today that Enron tinkered with the earnings numbers it reported to investors, and that chairman Kenneth Lay and chief executive Jeffrey Skilling condoned or directly participated in the process," Nichols wrote.

In a trial that is expected to last up to four months, there will be countless witnesses and twists to report. Reporters should be careful to not let their copy convict or exonerate Lay and Skilling of the conspiracy and securities fraud charges they face before a verdict is reached.

Noted as the first reporter to break the Enron story, Fortune senior writer Bethany McLean has some advice for journalists on the investigative beat when approaching sources - sources that may have a gold mine of information.

"You have to know your own weaknesses and know when to push yourself outside your comfort zone - or when to restrain yourself," McLean says. "If you're not willing to do that, then I think you probably shouldn't do investigative journalism. I've never been an editor, but I suppose it would serve an editor well to learn those things about the reporters who work for her, too."

McLean's investigative approach to Enron has her sitting in the courtroom today covering the very company she helped expose.

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Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism