Media Questions Drip Out Of Leak Story
156628The firing of a CIA officer who allegedly leaked classified information to journalists, including Washington Post reporter Dana Priest, has predictably turned into a political issue. But beyond arguing about good leaks and bad leaks, an issue of disclosure popped up that raises some interesting questions about how news is presented.
On National Review's The Corner, Andy McCarthy argues that in its Sunday story on the officer, Mary McCarthy, The Post should have included the fact that she has given thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates. Says NRO's McCarthy:
How can the WPost justify reporting one friend's mere impression that McCarthy is not biased and that it is very difficult even for those who know her well to understand why she would leak sensitive information, and yet not report the objective fact that -- after a meteoric professional rise in intelligence circles during a Democratic administration -- McCarthy, while a government official on a government salary, gave at least $7700 of her own money in a single year to Democratic political campaigns?In his Media Notes online column, Post media writer Howard Kurtz agrees: "I would agree. Absolutely relevant information." (When later asked about the fact his name was included as a contributor to the story, Kurtz had this to say: "I had nothing -- zero -- to do with that story. I was asked to make some calls from home and not a syllable of my material was used. I did not read it before publication and had no idea what was going to be in it").
In this case, should the Post have reported on her political contributions? One could argue that in this case, the motivation for leaking is beside the main point – that the story about secret CIA prisons operating in Eastern European countries was true and that's what is important. Not only that, true motivations can't necessarily be gleaned from such information. On the other hand, public attitudes about those who leak (whether they get fired or not) can be shaped by revelations about motivation to some degree so they should be included. I tend to think more information is always better, I'd be interested in hearing more opinions.