April 1, 2011

Nameless Sources Are the Custom at WashPost

The Washington Post‘s Greg Jaffe (4/1/11):

Some of the United States’ partners have acknowledged that the initial descriptions of the intervention in Libya no longer apply. “What is happening in Libya is not a no-fly zone,” a senior European diplomat told reporters, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity. “The no-fly zone was a diplomatic thing, to get the Arabs on board. What we have in Libya is more than that.”

Is”customary” anonymity something like,”Now I can tell you the truth?”

(In case you’re curious, the Washington Post‘s official policy on anonymous sourcing is that “granting anonymity to a source should not be done casually or automatically.”)

Peter Hart

Peter Hart was the activist director of FAIR for 15 years, as well as the co-host of FAIR's radio show CounterSpin. He is now the senior field communications officer for Food & Water Watch.

Comments

Doug Latimer
April 1, 2011 at 4:32 pm
Further:
Institute for Public Accuracy
ÃƒÆ’Â¢ÃƒÂ¢”Å¡Â¬Ãƒâ€¦“Exposed: The U.S.-Saudi Libya DealÃƒÆ’Â¢ÃƒÂ¢”Å¡Â¬Ãƒâ€šÂ
http://www.accuracy.org/release/exposed-the-u-s-saudi-libya-deal/
What are friends for?
-or-
You scratch my back, and I’ll let you rip open someone else’s.

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