[Mb-civic] Sources Of Trouble - David Broder - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Sources Of Trouble

By David S. Broder
Sunday, July 17, 2005; Page B07

Many of us in journalism are upset that the public seems largely 
indifferent to the jailing of one reporter and a prosecutor's pursuit of 
several others in the leak of the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame.

But we should be smart enough to be able to figure out why the anger and 
alarm this development has caused in our ranks are apparently not shared 
by those outside the news business.

The relationship between reporters and anonymous sources is built on 
mutual trust -- the journalist's belief that the source will be candid, 
even while disclaiming personal responsibility for the information, and 
the source's belief that the reporter will honor her or his commitment 
to protect the identity of the informant.

<>But the reader is deliberately not included in that circle of 
confidants. Rather, each member of the audience is told implicitly by 
the reporter, "I won't share something important with you that I know -- 
namely, the identity of the person who is my source."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/15/AR2005071501615.html?nav=hcmodule 

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