McClatchy's The State newspaper has an interesting story today about how aides to Gov. Mark Sanford dealt with the governor's absence last month while he was visiting his lover in Argentina. The story notes, for example, that the governor's chief of staff tried to reach him on his cell phone 15 times -- unsuccessfully.

But for us media types the fun part about the 600 pages of e-mails and phone messages The State obtained is what various reporters had to say as they tried to get the scoop, pledging favorable coverage and disparaging the work of competitors -- or even their sister organizations.

For example, there was this from an unidentified Washington Times reporter: “If you all want to speak on this publicly, you’re welcome to Washington Times Radio. You know that you will be on friendly ground here!”

Or this from Fox News Channel correspondent Griff Jenkins: “Having known the Governor for years and even worked with him when he would host radio shows for me — I find this story and the media frenzy surrounding it to be absolutely ridiculous! Please give him my best.” Ouch.

And then there was this from Brendan Miniter, associate editor on the Wall Street Journal's opinion pages, about his colleagues who do the front page, where a story about the AWOL governor was displayed: “Someone at WSJ should be fired for today’s story. Ridiculous.”

For the record, the Journal's display that day, ahead of the national pack, was pretty prescient. The State promises more details tomorrow.