Truth Is A Journey, Not A Destination

It's slim pickings, but members of the Washington Post Kommunity Klub* will add it to their participatory journalism kit--Howard Kurtz in Media Notes Extra:

The cross-examination of Tim Russert concluded yesterday, with Ted Wells, Scooter Libby's lawyer, even playing some clips from "Imus in the Morning." The New York Times captures the intensity:

"Mr. Wells, using the technique that Mr. Russert is known for as moderator of 'Meet the Press,' then put up on video screens throughout the courtroom Mr. Russert's words in an affidavit he filed later. In an effort to avoid complying with a subpoena to testify about the same subject before a grand jury, Mr. Russert swore that he could not discuss the conversation because to do so would violate his deeply held journalistic principles.

" 'Did you disclose in the affidavit to the court that you had already disclosed the contents of your conversation with Mr. Libby' to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Wells asked.

" 'As I've said, sir . . . ,' Mr. Russert began.

" 'It's a yes or no question,' Mr. Wells interrupted.

" 'I'd like to answer it to the best of my ability,' Mr. Russert replied.

" 'This is a very simple question. Either it's in the affidavit or it's not,' Mr. Wells said. 'Did you disclose to the court that you had already communicated to the F.B.I. the fact that you had communicated with Mr. Libby?'

" 'No,' Mr. Russert said."

Russert says he resisted a subpoena in the case, after talking to the FBI, because he feared a fishing expedition that would force him to reveal other sources and methods. NBC lost that legal battle.

This would be an example of Libby's attorney hammering the memory of Russert, the results of said hammering, as reported by the Post's Carol Leonnig and Amy Goldstein, remaining a mystery.

It's how they keep readers engaged. Or maybe if you spell that with an r.

*The Washington Post Kommunity Klub is a group devoted to "community journalism," piecing together enigmatic fragments of reporting in an attempt to find out what the heck is going on in the world.

Comments

[kim]

Howard Kurtz's objectivity does not survive 'relatively unscathed' from his own writing.

Or is it 'relatively unscythed'?
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[kim]

Is Hillary watching the trial? This morning she said the continuing behaviour of Saddam's regime suggested the pursuit of WMD. Do I hear Clinton/Lieberman?
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[topsecretkk9]

Crud, didn't realize you had a new post up - I put this in last thread, just want you to see it

Sorry, a littel OT Chris, but I thought you might like to know about this (this is REALLY pretty bad)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020802387.html

Correction to This Article A Feb. 9 front-page article about the Pentagon inspector general's report regarding the office of former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith incorrectly attributed quotations to that report. References to Feith's office producing "reporting of dubious quality or reliability" and that the office "was predisposed to finding a significant relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda" were from a report issued by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) in Oct. 2004. Similarly, the quotes stating that Feith's office drew on "both reliable and unreliable reporting" to produce a link between al-Qaeda and Iraq "that was much stronger than that assessed by the IC [Intelligence Community] and more in accord with the policy views of senior officials in the Administration" were also from Levin's report. The article also stated that the intelligence provided by Feith's office supported the political views of senior administration officials, a conclusion that the inspector general's report did not draw.The two reports employ similar language to characterize the activities of Feith's office: Levin's report refers to an "alternative intelligence assessment process" developed in that office, while the inspector general's report states that the office "developed, produced, and then disseminated alternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and al Qaida relationship, which included some conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus of the Intelligence Community, to senior decision-makers." The inspector general's report further states that Feith's briefing to the White House in 2002 "undercuts the Intelligence Community" and "did draw conclusions that were not fully supported by the available intelligence."

More here

http://hotair.com/archives/2007/02/09/wapo-quasi-retracts-page-one-story-about-feith-iraqaq-intel/

[topsecretkk9]

No kidding Kim.

This story is what you might call a blight on the Post.

For all the tut tutting Pincus gets - taking Carl Levin at his word and then there's that journalistic practice called "confirmation"....brings to mind that word the leftist love to bandy about..."stenography" or yellow journalism- take your pick.

[Christopher Fotos]

Thank you Kim, I've also been getting emails on this but have not had the time to delve. I'll try to get it on record by tomorrow.

[Christopher Fotos]

Yikes. I take it back. Post up in a minute.

[MnMnM]

Recent clues point to Abbott and Costello as original architects of Plame Leak.
Grand Jury testimony of Scooter Libby, former Chief of Staff of the United States (COSTUS) for the Vice President, leaked by Rove-ing reporter (humor).

It is posted at: Libby Knows who Leaked First

Bobbing and weaving, a tangled web we do. Book him, Danno.
Please keep my identity a secret. Double super Secret.
Middle-aged, Middle-of-the-road, Mid-Westerner

We can only hope that Fitz doesn't fizzle.
I think Mr. Fitzgerald's motto should be: "If you do a white collar crime then you will serve blue collar time." Look where he lodged Judith Miller. A few months in a blue collar jail and she was ready to sing. Unfortunately, she says she forgot the words

The Times & Post They Should Be A-Changin

Bloggers Request:

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the Times & Post should be a-changin'.

Good Bye Sulzberger, Keller, Miller, and Woodward!

Fitzgerald's response:

Come politician's, journalists
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the indictments they are a-comin'.

--Bob Dylan

[kim]

The three on the ash heap; Levin, Kerry, and Rockefeller, in my opinion. Think how things would be different if the MSM had come clean about Joe after the SSCI revealed his flair for the literary art.
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