Worried about the potential competition from the Chicago Tribune, editors were ready to run the story as soon as Corral judged it ready. Corral hoped he had the makings of a front-page story. On Wednesday, September 6, his editors agreed that he did. At the 4 p.m. editorial meeting, the story was given a slot on Page One for Friday, September 8, 2006.

On Thursday, September 7, Corral had a busy day. In the morning, he and Editor Marquez visited Radio/TV Martí for what Corral calls a “hostile interview” with senior executives—a contrast to their meetings in June and July. He recalls that “they knew we were talking about journalists. They knew that we were doing an investigative piece. Their tone had hardened.” In the early afternoon, Corral called a couple of the reporters named in the story, such as Helen Aguirre Ferré, then-opinion editor of Diario Las Americas . She told him: “I don’t see a conflict of interest.” [1] They talked for some 10 minutes, recalls Ferré, who argued that the charges in the story were not fair. [2] Reporters at other publications, she pointed out, could not be held to Miami Herald ethics guidelines. [3]

There were too many calls for Corral to make them all, so the editors drafted others on the Miami Herald staff to notify the remaining reporters. When they reached the named reporters, the team described the forthcoming article and asked for comment. They failed to reach several of those identified, including syndicated columnist Carlos Alberto Montaner and ENH freelancer Connor. When TMH reporters finally contacted the other two Nuevo Herald reporters, Cancio and Alfonso refused comment. [4]

Meanwhile, Metro Editor Garcia and Assistant City Editor Marquez took responsibility for approaching the Nuevo Herald newsroom. At 2:30 p.m., Garcia and Marquez went to see El Nuevo Herald Editor Castelló. They asked Corral to join them.