This will be a short diary based on an article by the NPR Ombudsman posted on the NPR site.
It is in reference to the Pentagon report on the killing of Nicola Calipari. Since the story was thoroughly blogged here at BT, I thought the Ombudsman’s article is of particular relevance to us.
More below the fold.
When Those Pesky Blogs Undermine NPR News
May 3, 2005 · It seems there are no secrets any more… even when you try to keep them.
(snip)
Two IssuesFirst, it is essential to report on government documents. But in this case, publishing the unedited report (albeit unintentionally) could have — and could yet — threaten peoples’ lives. There are times when editors have to make a difficult choice between the public’s right to know and the risk of endangering lives. But this was not one of those instances. NPR was right to remove the documents from its Web site once it became clear that the full version could be accessed.
Second, the blogosphere has proven once again to be an amoral place with few rules. The consequences for misbehavior are still vague. The possibility of civic responsibility remains remote. It is a place where the philosophy of “who posts first, wins” predominates.
So, the government can cheat. Steal. Kill and lie about it.
Investigate itself and cook up a report. Redact 20% of it – the most essential bits. Such as the names of those involved. Imagine, now their stories can be double checked when they return (they’re probably well prepped now, anyway).
Were the bloggers (we) unethical in perusing information that was intended to be hidden? Are we amoral, as the Ombudsman suggests?
Read the article! He has some interesting views on several issues. Among them a quote from the Political Editor of NPR, showing that snark thrives outside the blogosphere as well:
Finally, congratulations to the dozens and dozens of free thinkers who wrote in, often using the exact same language, regarding a piece by NPR’s David Welna on the oncoming collision in the Senate over the right of the minority to filibuster judicial nominations.
(BTW, were bloggers the first to break this – I thought it originated in Italian newspaper news rooms??)
It’s one thing for confidential material to be exposed. It’s quite another when the “redacted” information from a PDF can be revealed with just a couple of clicks of the mouse. They didn’t try very hard to hide the so-called sensitive material.
.
My thoughts Man Eegee. When you dropped a SECRET document in the public place, no way you can UNDO and restore its confidentiality.
Most of the forensics has been destroyed, including audio and communication tapes. Calls made via VoIP, a very open network.
Oui – Liberté – Egalité – Fraternité
“Second, the blogosphere has proven once again to be an amoral place with few rules.”
That’s nasty. I can’t believe he wrote that.
Exactly. Why this extremely defensive position? When I saw the headline and started reading, I thought he was being ironic. But quickly, it was clear that he was dead serious.
Considering that circumstances surrounding the attack on Sgrena’s car.
Jeffery Dvorkin (the NPR Ombudsman) clearly doesn’t understand the transformation that’s underway in the media. He seems to feel that information is to be properly filtered and disseminated by official arbiters, of which NPR would be considered one. To him, the participatory element found in blogging has dangerously blurred the line between journalist and citizen. Of course, our response to that would be, “Why not be both?!” In his world, no journalist should ever interact with the readers, who ought to remain entirely passive as they receive their pre-digested information. Critical thought should thus be banished. George Orwell would be proud.
Dvorkin states, “The possibility of civic responsibility remains remote. It is a place where the philosophy of ‘who posts first, wins’ predominates.” This willfully turns a blind eye to the “noble” journalistic tradition — of at least 100 years standing — of the scoop and the breaking edition. Newspapers and television have long operated under the model that it is often better to report the story first, rather than to be sure of its complete accuracy. They’re generally in a for-profit business, and time is money.
Dvorkin’s claim that blogs “are not constrained by journalistic standards of truth telling” is belied by examples within his profession far too numerous to detail. Given the frequently aggressive, adversarial back-and-forth flow in blogs (either through comments or between different sites), an outright falsehood is far more likely to be exposed as such — and exposed quickly — than would be the case within his hallowed halls of journalism.
Another thing that I find astounding is that Dvorkin presumes — without any evidence whatsoever in support — that no member of the “traditional” media would ever deign to use information gleaned from an unredacted version of the Pentagon report. Perish the thought! Surely only nefarious bloggers would dare to reveal government secrets about which the administration has determined we are better off remaining ignorant. I can hardly refrain from excessive eye-rolling at this naïveté. Yes, now that I think about it, it was definitely bloggers who disclosed some 25+ years ago that one could learn to build a nuclear bomb from publicly available scientific papers. Er, wait, no it wasn’t.
The only point on which I can agree with Dvorkin (and he doesn’t even make this point clearly, or well), is that anyone who chooses to publish information should consider the potential consequences of doing so and, by extension, be held to account for that choice. Just because he feels that someone else (whether or not a blogger) has reached a different judgment than his own does not, however, make the blogosphere “an amoral place.” It reeks of a holier-than-thou absolutism for Dvorkin to claim this with a straight face.
Information Is Power. There are two ways of approaching this statement. One version (apparently endorsed by Dvorkin) holds that those who amass information and parcel it out only in small amounts will retain for themselves power, leaving all others at their mercy. The other interpretation, in which I have always believed, holds that as more information is distributed to a greater number of people, the more powerful that entirety of people becomes. Only under such circumstances can that citizenry be capable of truly informed decisions.
Thanks The Maven, for your thoughtful comment.
Are you going to the next NY-kos meetup on the 25th?
There’s an outside chance that I could end up at the Paint the Town Blue DNC event at the Javits Center with Dr. Dean, but otherwise, I’d except to be at the meetup. Maybe someone could persuade the Good Doctor to stop by. Extremely doubtful, but, hey, stranger things have happened!
P.S.: I’m glad that you cross-posted this diary at dKos. It deserves a lot of attention. In many ways, this is an example of an equally important battle as the one between progressives and reactionaries.
Either way, you’ll have an interesting evening.
Interesting take on this, thanks.
A couple of points. First, I think Dvorkin is typical of what we’re seeing and going to see for a time coming from MSM re blogging–disparaging comments generated, I suspect, because at some level these guys are threatened by the presence of others reporting as well as or better than they from outside their corporate structure. They probably don’t realize it, and would deny it strenuously if told so, but I think they’re terrified of change.
And Dvorkin makes the common mistake of assuming that all people blogging are not reporters, when in fact the two overlap more and more. Hey, you can take the girl out of the newsroom, but it’s harder to take the newsroom out of the girl.
And, second point: Remember that NPR has been under increasing pressure from the right wing in the last few years and is now taken over by people who seem to be decidedly right of center. So I suspect they’re going to be resistant to innovation and any novel methods of information dissemination, especially if that information goes counter to conservative doctrine.
This is the same old tired flap-a-doodle we hear from every established media company. Boo-hoo-hoo, people are bypassing us and researching our sources directly. Boo-hoo-hoo, we are no longer a monopoly. Boo-hoo-hoo, dis-intermediation preceeds apace. Whaaaaaah! our power is going bye-bye.
Perhaps if NPR would quit doing their in-depth, 157 part investigations, of carpet abrasion in the White House people might start listening again.
Well, once again the blogger’s have struck a nerve within the MSM.
If you fear something, destroy it. Natural reflex of mankind. ; )
In an ideal world there is some information, if released, could cause innocent individuals harm.
But this is not an ideal world. The lies, subterfuge and self-serving secrecy of governments HAVE to be challenged and exposed. They give us no choice.
I believe that in their ‘long-term plan to subvert democracy’ control of the media was a key element. What they could not have foreseen was blogging. Once again The 3rd Law of Mediadynamics proves true: you can never reduce the truth to absolute zero.
This is war – and all is fair
whoever posts first wins…..what exactly? About 5 minutes of recogniztion and congratulations from other bloggers on one or two blogs??? Big f+++ing deal.
Let’s take a look at where the real financial incentives lie. It’s professional journalist who are actaully rewarded with money (no small incentive in my opinion) to break the latest scoop ASAP before the other guy does. What a worthless piece of resentful and bilious sophistry!! I they COULD HAVE, NPR or any other
“offical” news organzition would have published this thing fastre than you can turn your dial to another radio station.
Juts happens that in this case, it was a few bloggers living in Italy who broke the story and then sent it on to the Italian newspapers who evaluated and published it unedited.
Assuming Dvorkin’s claim that the information was redacted only to protect some people’s safety is true, then, um Ok, I suppose bloggers should have taken the document offline. Maybe we could also get any terrorists who happened to download a copy from the NPR site to delete it and empty their trash.
Once something is posted on the internet, there very little chance that it will ever totally go away. Some servers and browsers cache pages and files from other sites in their memory. Files get downloaded to personal computers and emailed around. Old computers thrown into landfills or sold at garage sales seldom have all of the data on them totally deleted. I’m sure terrorist groups troll through U.S. government and media sites looking for things just like this.
So let’s place the blame for this where it belongs. Who was the security professional in the U.S. Government who thought that simply highlighting the text in Acrobat with the color black was the same as crossing it out with a sharpie? I sure feel safe knowing what a crack group we have up there at the DIA or whoever was in charge of this. Why doesn’t NPR do a story about that instead of trashing bloggers?
God that guy pisses me off!
Anonymous SISMi sources have declared that the only real damage done is to their spy network in Iraq.
The identity of the driver, Andrea Carpani, however, had already been burned by the MSM in Italy shortly after the incident.
The only Italian spy who’s identity was revealed in the unredacted version is that of Lieutenant Colonel Zarcone.
It is unlikely that the unredacted report can be used as evidence in an eventual trial for homicide here in Italy since it was not acquired through official channels. The Roman prosecutors have made a rogatory to MultiNational Forces requesting the identity of Mario Lozano since day one of the Italian investigation. Beyond turning over the Toyota after nearly two months, the MNF has not cooperated with the Italian Judiciary.
The US Army has moved the family of Lozano out of their home in Queens. It appears that the only danger for them would be harassment by mainstream journalists- certainly not bloggers on the rampage.