Editor sorry for using “n-word” during speech

The executive editor of the nation's largest alternative newspaper company angered dozens of Arizona journalists Friday night when he used a racial slur during an awards speech.

Michael Lacey, co-owner of Village Voice Media, which publishes a chain of weekly newspapers across the United States including Phoenix New Times, used the slur while accepting an award from the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Lacey's reference to an old friend of his, the late Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Tom Fitzpatrick, as "my (n-word)," sparked immediate reaction from those who attended the event. The short, impromptu speech also included some vulgar phrases.

Billye Paulson, a black journalist who works for the Tribune, called the speech "offensive" and fired off an angry e-mail to Lacey demanding an apology.

"I found your acceptance speech at the April 4 SPJ awards banquet disgusting, inappropriate and vulgar. And I DID take offense. But the obscenities take a back seat to the use of the n-word, which was not necessary and very insulting," she wrote in the e-mail.

Paulson attended the event with the 82-year-old mother of the late Tribune sports writer Bob Moran, a black journalist who died last month from cancer. His mother was there to accept a special recognition award on behalf of her son.

On Monday evening, Lacey said he was sorry that his "comments about a dead colleague rankled listeners."

"My words, meant to honor a friend, were inappropriate," Lacey said. "All present have my sincere apology. It is regrettable that any phrase of mine offended those attending a First Amendment awards banquet."

The SPJ annual banquet coincided with the 40th anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and Lacey's use of the slur on that occasion "just adds insult to injury," Paulson said.

Lacey also took note of that slight and said: "We accepted these honors on the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination. It is a sorry affair indeed that I should detract from the ongoing civil rights struggle that continues to unfold on streets Valleywide."

Local SPJ president Teri Carnicelli said Monday she was writing Lacey a letter, scolding him for use of the slur.

Carnicelli also sent Paulson an e-mail telling her that the board would be "sending an e-mail to our membership about this unfortunate incident as well."

Lacey was invited to the event to accept the organization's President's Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions in the field of journalism. Lacey and business partner Jim Larkin were honored for stories they wrote and published that exposed the Maricopa County Attorney's attempts to obtain Internet records of anyone who had ever visited the Phoenix New Times Web site.

The initial story resulted in Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies arresting Lacey and Larkin at their homes and then jailing them on charges that were soon dropped. The revelations by the New Times executives and the arrests ignited public rage and prompted accusations of abuse of power on behalf of the county's top law enforcement officials.

Larkin and Lacey also were honored last month by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Arizona with its highest award - the Civil Libertarian of the Year Award.