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Some news organizations have gone to great lengths to chronicle the family stories. The New York Post wanted to fly the Morefields to Wiesbaden, West Germany, if a Post staffer could go with them. One family turned down $10,000 and travel expenses to West Germany from a "media corporation of international reputation, definitely not a scandal sheet," in exchange for exclusive story rights. LIFE has offered to pay the airfare to the reunion for the five brothers and sisters of Hostage James Lopez of Globe, but with no strings attached. Keough has accepted a flight to Wiesbaden from Boston's NBC affiliate, WBZ-TV. The Boston Globe blasted that as "checkbook journalism." Keough fought back by temporarily refusing to talk to the Globe, cooperating instead with the rival Herald American.
ABC and CBS had made similar offers, she explained. So had the Globe.
Several hostage families have changed their telephone numbers to avoid such calls. But Plotkin is afraid to. She has re ceived two calls from her husband in Iran.
Says she: "It would be terrible if he called and found the number had changed." Bettie Kirtley of Little Rock, Ark., mother of Marine Sergeant Steven Kirtley, 23, al ways answers her phone on the first ring.
Most of the calls are from reporters. But one of these days, she hopes, it will be her son.