Column: How to leak and not get caught
By Jack Shafer
Wed Jul 10, 2013 5:16am IST
... Most leakers, mindful of the fate of the pure and solitary whistle-blowers, scale the size of their leaks to avoid detection. Rather than giving the whole puzzle away to reporters, they break off pieces for distribution, in hopes that it can't be traced back to them. Or, if crafty, leakers dispense pieces of the puzzle that aren't especially revealing and therefore not precisely classified, but provide hints about the location of the next puzzle piece. Investigative reporters who excel at fitting a mosaic together benefit the most from this class of leaker.
The best way to escape detection, however, is to leak as part of a flock, a flock that may or may not fly together. The best recent example of this kind of leaking can be found in two excellent stories about the NSA's machinations published earlier this week: the New York Times‘s "In Secret, Court Vastly Broadens Powers of NSA," and the Wall Street Journal‘s "Secret Court's Redefinition of ‘Relevant' Empowered Vast NSA Data-Gathering" ...
In plurality, any flocking bird will tell you, resides security. When a mass of current and former officials talk to the press about a classified story, it's harder for a government investigator to pick off one for punishment. Such vague sourcing means the government investigator would have to investigate every current and former official exposed to the classified information discussed in the story which can often be a very long list. In our current national security reporting renaissance, with a dozen or more reporters breaking new parts of the NSA story almost daily, the number of suspected leakers quickly expands to defeat the ability of the spy cops to track all of them.
That's assuming of course, that the leakers have actually leaked classified information. As mentioned above, fitting pieces of unclassified material together mosaic style can lead a good reporter toward a mostly completed picture. At this juncture, the reporter can ask authorities direct "confirm or deny" questions about his findings. The authorities can confirm his hypothesis, beg him not to publish it, or confess a kind of defeat by confirming parts of the story (but not for attribution) while explaining why other parts of it aren't true ...
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/07/09/us-shafer-leaks-idUSBRE9681CG20130709?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
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