Ambassador Wilson: "If It's Good Enough for the Times ..."

[understandinglife]

The recent revelation from the Washington Post that Bob Woodward learned of the identity of CIA operative (and my wife), Valerie Wilson, in June, 2003, is perplexing. Woodward and his partner Carl Bernstein were heroes to me as they were to many of my generation for their fearless reporting on the machinations of the Nixon administration. The Watergate investigation was what spurred me to pursue a career in public service. As Bob and Carl made clear in their pursuit of the truth, we as a nation had a right to demand better from our government. I still remember seeing All the President's Men at the old MacArthur Boulevard theater, just blocks from where we now live in the Palisades.

So now we have a situation where an icon of the journalistic fraternity intentionally sat on a story for over two years, while a special prosecutor investigated whether a criminal betrayal of the national security of our country occurred.

Why did he do so?

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More at the link and what should be many interesting comments at TPMCafe:

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/11/18/102834/88

Why, indeed.


Peace.

[understandinglife]

1. "but everyone in the media ought to be concerned with how they are ...

... being perceived. Woodward’s “Deep Throat” remains the shining example of how investigative reporting should be done and how important anonymous sources can be. But the increasing reliance on them in reports on everything from the most important to the most mundane diminishes the practice.

The result is suspicion among readers, not to mention an open invitation to question reporters’ motives. Lots of news organizations have paid at least lip service to the problems of anonymous sources and have introduced complex explanations that purport to give consumers more of an idea where blind quotes are coming from. But it’s pretty clear that approach isn’t working.

This morning on Don Imus’ show, Post media writer Howard Kurtz described the controversy being inflicted on news organizations from Time magazine to The New York Times, and now the Post as a “virus” spreading from one to the next. He also said he’s taken to calling Woodward’s latest secret source as “Shallow Throat.” I’d take it a step further and say it’s the media’s addiction to unnamed sources that is the virus and it’s giving the entire profession a “Sore Throat.” And if it goes untreated, it could turn into something much more serious to our health.

From Sore Throat by Vaughn Ververs on November 18, 2005 at CBS Public Eye:

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2005/11/18/publiceye/entry1057237.shtml

I think Mr Ververs mis-diagnosed. I'd call it virulent pneumonia and these folk are already on a respiratory and are hallucinating.


Peace.