champu 1 #1 November 5, 2009 When you see the phrases, "...who will not speak openly." or, "...who spoke on condition of anonymity." or, "...said one official, speaking privately." do you take the veracity of the statement with a grain of salt? I think everyone has a desire to believe that journalists, despite often having their own politics or a lack of expertise in a subject on which they're reporting, are actually trying to get the truth out there. If we didn't, we would never read/watch/listen to the news at all. Still, I'm interested in hearing your thoughts about the above caveats. How often does this "play up" the authority of the person making the statement? How often are quotes like this paraphrased / mangled do to misunderstanding on the reporter's part? How often are quotes like this fabricated when the reporter can't find a source to support a hunch? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 2 #2 November 5, 2009 QuoteWhen you see the phrases, "...who will not speak openly." or, "...who spoke on condition of anonymity." or, "...said one official, speaking privately." do you take the veracity of the statement with a grain of salt? It can work both ways. Sometimes being anonymous helps you lie and get away with it. And frequently, being anonymous helps you tell the truth about something without suffering retaliation. The plain fact is that in an open society, in which the press is a crucial segment of society, without which an open society could not exist, journalists must be able to avail themselves of confidential sources if they are able to do their jobs of reporting the facts. QuoteHow often does this "play up" the authority of the person making the statement? Sometimes. It's the price a journalist must pay in order to gain regular access to a valuable source. But it can only go so far - if you (the source) don't get any credit, you don't get any glory. Quote How often are quotes like this paraphrased / mangled do to misunderstanding on the reporter's part? Sometimes. But sometimes the reporter checks with the source after the first draft of the article is written to check its accuracy. Other times the source will contact the reporter after the error is published, and sometimes a correction is published. It often depends upon the reporter's skill, diligence, experience and knowledge of the particular subject matter about which the article is written. QuoteHow often are quotes like this fabricated when the reporter can't find a source to support a hunch? That's always a risk, of course; but hopefully not too often. If you get caught at it, your journalistic career is over. In some news organizations, reporters are assigned confidential mentors or partners who the reporter must bring into the loop in order to get an unattributed quote printed/broadcast. But often that's not the case. To some degree, the news consumers have no choice but to rely upon the ethics of the journalist. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rushmc 23 #3 November 5, 2009 Quote Quote When you see the phrases, "...who will not speak openly." or, "...who spoke on condition of anonymity." or, "...said one official, speaking privately." do you take the veracity of the statement with a grain of salt? It can work both ways. Sometimes being anonymous helps you lie and get away with it. And frequently, being anonymous helps you tell the truth about something without suffering retaliation. The plain fact is that in an open society, in which the press is a crucial segment of society, without which an open society could not exist, journalists must be able to avail themselves of confidential sources if they are able to do their jobs of reporting the facts. Quote How often does this "play up" the authority of the person making the statement? Sometimes. It's the price a journalist must pay in order to gain regular access to a valuable source. But it can only go so far - if you (the source) don't get any credit, you don't get any glory. Quote How often are quotes like this paraphrased / mangled do to misunderstanding on the reporter's part? Sometimes. But sometimes the reporter checks with the source after the first draft of the article is written to check its accuracy. Other times the source will contact the reporter after the error is published, and sometimes a correction is published. It often depends upon the reporter's skill, diligence, experience and knowledge of the particular subject matter about which the article is written. Quote How often are quotes like this fabricated when the reporter can't find a source to support a hunch? That's always a risk, of course; but hopefully not too often. If you get caught at it, your journalistic career is over. In some news organizations, reporters are assigned confidential mentors or partners who the reporter must bring into the loop in order to get an unattributed quote printed/broadcast. But often that's not the case. To some degree, the news consumers have no choice but to rely upon the ethics of the journalist. Quite a few of them got called on the Rushlimbaugh "quotes" that were fabricated on wiki by someone in a law office in Washington. They ran with it and they all still have their jobs with no repercussions. Point? depends on who does what to whom"America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
champu 1 #4 November 5, 2009 QuoteQuoteHow often does this "play up" the authority of the person making the statement? Sometimes. It's the price a journalist must pay in order to gain regular access to a valuable source. But it can only go so far - if you (the source) don't get any credit, you don't get any glory. hmm... maybe I didn't use "play up" correctly. A better word for what I was getting at would be "exaggerate." Of the questions I threw out there, this is the one that actually makes me rub my chin the most. If it is portrayed that the source would be put in some danger (life, career, or otherwise) if they are identified, then we can safely assume that the information is something that someone with power over the source doesn't want said. I think most go on to assume the source has a certain level of intimacy with the matter, and the ability to speak knowledgeably to it. It's the latter assumption that concerns me. I think it stifles the independent review of what is said. And I think this is sometimes (often?) done intentionally. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
champu 1 #5 November 5, 2009 QuoteQuite a few of them got called on the Rushlimbaugh "quotes" that were fabricated on wiki by someone in a law office in Washington. They ran with it and they all still have their jobs with no repercussions. Well, and that's in a situation where a quote was actually attributed to someone with a name. It's hard to argue that, "Hey, no unnamed official ever said that!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rushmc 23 #6 November 5, 2009 QuoteQuoteQuite a few of them got called on the Rushlimbaugh "quotes" that were fabricated on wiki by someone in a law office in Washington. They ran with it and they all still have their jobs with no repercussions. Well, and that's in a situation where a quote was actually attributed to someone with a name. It's hard to argue that, "Hey, no unnamed official ever said that!" In a bigger context though, many in the media pull the stoies and run with em. There are fewer and fewer who fact check, especially if the story follows their world view template"America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
downwardspiral 0 #7 November 5, 2009 Didn't Dan Rather do this with an anonymous source?www.FourWheelerHB.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #8 November 5, 2009 Quote Didn't Dan Rather do this with an anonymous source? "Fake, but accurate" Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfriverjoe 1,523 #9 November 5, 2009 It depends on the news outlet publishing the anonymous quote, and to a lesser extent the reporter doing the quoting. I don't follow the news the way I used to, but there were certain papers/news networks/reporters who had a track record of getting good information that was later confirmed by named sources after the story broke and was being confirmed."There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
