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Topic: Memos Sent to Romenesko
Date/Time: 10/22/2008 7:18:53 AM
Title: How AP's Goldman got his Levi Johnston scoop
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
 
From AP Senior Managing Editor Mike Silverman's "Beat of the Week" memo to AP staff:

Tracking down Levi Johnston, the 18-year-old father of Bristol Palin's baby, and getting him to talk was no easy thing.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain's campaign had advised Johnston to avoid the media, and he hadn't given any interviews since mother-in-law-to-be Sarah Palin was chosen to be McCain's running mate.

In the meantime, rumors swirled. Johnston had been held against his will on the campaign trail. He was forced into a shotgun wedding with Palin's 17-year-old daughter.

Adam Goldman, a reporter in the New York City bureau on assignment in Anchorage, set out to get Johnston's story. First, though, he had to find him.

Johnston was spending most of his time at the Palin compound. But that was protected by the Secret Service, so the place was off limits.

Goldman repeatedly went to Johnston's home in Wasilla. No luck.

He identified the homes of Johnston's buddies and went there. No luck.

He pulled speeding and hunting tickets, learned the make and model of Johnston's truck and went back to the house in Wasilla. Still not there.

Then, as Goldman left the neighborhood, he spotted the truck, quickly went back to the house and found Johnston in his driveway.

Finally, he agreed to talk. He said he wanted to set the record straight. He said he was only joking when he wrote on his MySpace page that "I don't want kids." He said he and Bristol had planned to get married "a long time ago with or without the kid." He described his reaction to impending fatherhood and the possibility the baby will be a boy _ "I'm looking forward to having him. I'm going to take him hunting and fishing. He'll be everywhere with me." -- and gave a few details about plans for next summer's wedding.

It was all just in time for the AP's purposes. Johnston also revealed that he had dropped out of high school and was leaving in a few hours for the remote North Slope oil fields for a three-week apprenticeship as an electrician. No other media would be able to reach him until after the election.

For his dogged pursuit of an exclusive interview with one of the most elusive personalities of this presidential campaign, Adam wins this week's $500 prize.

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