Last week, columnist Jennifer McBride wrote an article on a News-week story, found to be false, which incited riots (“The Value of Anonymity,” ODE May 18). While there is not much on which Ms. McBride and I agree, she makes a valid point that there are a lot of things she does not understand in this world. Apparently, journalistic integrity is one of them.
I’m not sure what it is about journalists that give them the impression that holding a press credential is somehow synonymous with a “get-out-of-jail-free” card, but this ideology is seriously flawed. Journalists ought to be held to an elevated intellectual and scholarly standard for their actions due to the wide dissemination they receive.
We are in a time of war. I understand the importance of the press, and that the free flow of information is an essential element of a functioning democracy. However, there is a line that must be drawn between investigative journalism and unnecessarily putting our soldiers and civilians at risk.
Journalists are invariably the first to cry out against the United States’ actions that endanger lives; I find it ironic and hypocritical that these same journalists have the audacity to blame faulty reporting on men like White House spokesman Scott McClellan because he blamed Newsweek reporters for the resulting loss of life.
McBride’s reasoning in this matter is devoid of logic and has somehow led our distinguished columnist to conclude the Bush Administration needs a scapegoat. The Bush Administration? I’m sorry, maybe I’ve gotten lost somewhere in the circular logic, but wasn’t it Newsweek that published an inaccurate story that contributed to the rioting that cost over a dozen lives?
The Newsweek staff made a profound error in judgment by publishing an unsubstantiated rumor by an “anonymous” source. In my opinion, errors like this make a strong argument for press restrictions during times of war. When issues of national security are at stake, irresponsible news reporting such as this has serious consequences. Ms. McBride, in her article, mentioned that the Pentagon might be to blame for not responding to Newsweek fast enough to expose its error. While I agree that it is a shame that Newsweek went to press, I’m not too surprised at the Pentagon’s tardiness in reply. I imagine its rather busy fighting a war. Also, last time I checked, the Pentagon wasn’t responsible for ensuring accurate news reporting.
And while McBride makes it quite clear that she hopes “this incident will not make reporters hesitant to jump on wrongful acts perpetuated by the United States, even if the sources are anonymous,” I hope it will. I hope that the next time Newsweek has an anonymous itch it wants to scratch, it will take the time to get the facts straight. Maybe then we won’t be forced into discussions like this, trying to ascertain what went so horribly wrong that
16 people lost their lives.
I can tell you exactly what went wrong — someone forgot his or her journalistic integrity.
Mandy Dal Ponte lives in Eugene