Max Blumenthal and Sarah Lazare, writing for AlterNet (6/14/16) about the refusal of Orlando police to release 911 transcripts from the Pulse massacre, quoted FAIR’s Jim Naureckas on the power of police leaks:
“Police release whatever information they choose through official leaks,” Jim Naureckas, editor of Extra!, the magazine of Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, told AlterNet. “The media then treat official information as the gold standard of information. This makes them very dependent because, if reporters don’t spin stories the way police want, they can be cut off from unofficial leaks.”
“It’s not clear why they are releasing the characterization of the 911 call and not releasing the call itself,” Naureckas continued. “It seems like an opportunity to pull the strings of media coverage.”
