Anonymous White House Sources Praise White House In Important Journalistic Scoop

Yesterday, Glenn Greenwald tore apart a piece of stenographic PR that ran in the Washington Post. Titled "Obama Team Says Zazi Case Illustrates Balanced Approach to Terror Threat", Post reporter Anne Kornblut related the surprising, blockbuster news that the Obama White House thinks that they are doing a great job protecting the nation from terrorist threats -- thanks for pretending to have asked! You could literally obtain a more substantive scoop by trailing Bo on his daily walks with a plastic baggie.

Greenwald puts the most comedic aspect of Kornblut's story into stark relief:

Here are all of Kornblut's cited sources for the article -- every last one of them -- in the order she cites them:

Obama aides pointed . . . administration officials said . . . a senior administration official said . . . officials said . . . a senior administration official said . . . senior Obama officials stressed . . . a senior administration official said . . . aides said . . . officials said . . . one senior administration official said. . . . one senior official said. . . . The official said . . . a senior administration official said . . . a senior administration official said . . . administration officials said . . . . a senior official said.

An entire article that hangs on the ghostly whispers of unnamed sources? Wasn't this the sort of thing the Post was going to stop doing?

Greenwald does a fine job rebutting the White House's anonymous claims that they have successfully "turn[ed] the page on Bush-era anti-terrorism policies." I recommend that you hie thee to Salon to read about it in full. I'll only add that what the administration, by not signing their names to their own self-congratulatory outbursts, are following a familiar pattern, where White House officials ask to "receive credit for 'keeping America safe' without having to take responsibility for the means by which this supposed 'safety' was achieved." Hmmm. I wonder who else I've said that about?

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Comments

[LOLWUT2]

The use of our icon will not go unpunished.

We are legion.
We never forget.
We never forgive.

[pene]

Help me here, people...when did rupert murdoch (or was it rev. sung yung moon?) buy the wapo?

[Spartaaaaa]

IN THE OLD DAYS THE NEWSPAPERS NAMED THEIR SOURCES!! DID WATERGATE USE ANONYMOUS SOURCES?? HECK NO!!

[CarltonBanks]

It's pretty good that everyone has finally noticed the press does this yo but this is nothing new because theyve been doing it for years pretty much

[FilthyHarry]

Anonymity is no longer used to protect sources from the consequences of telling the truth. It is now used to protect sources from the consequences of lying.

That journalism in general seems willing to accept this is certainly one of the largest reasons for their failure in credibility.

[JoeHusseinFritzl]

Good post. People are always covering stuff up and newspapers are no different.

[ByersL]

No wonder her husband left her for Savannah Guthrie!

[AnnHiro]

Oh noes

[EndangeredJackalope]

Kind of ironic, this site slaps WaPo for sloppy journalism, while misappropriating a specific and completely unrelated image to for their article.

*The "Anonymous" image is basically from an international anti-Scientology campaign.

[Rjmartinelli]

Oh if only that were true.

[Nijel]

it goes a lot deeper then the anti-scientology campaign...

[Spartaaaaa]

YOU THINK?

[CarltonBanks]

You have no idea, really.

[EndangeredJackalope]

No, I do Carlton. I was just keeping it vague to prevent the convo from morphing from a sloppy journalism convo to one about $ci.

[AnnHiro]

That can not be true. The Scientist people would not allow it.

[JoeHusseinFritzl]

You got to watch them all the time, believe me. You have no idea what those people can do.

Their in your house if you let them.

[sense oar sheep]

another award-winning journalist for the washington post wrote a FABULOUS article about orly taitz, DDS, JD the other day...........

[wonketteRAWKS]

The White House uses "straw men" as well.

[AnnHiro]

What is a straw man?

[Michael Valentine]

Has anyone noticed that President Obama has just set a 21st century record for an American Presidential Administration not being attacked by terrorist in the first ten months in office resulting in thousands of Americans deaths?

[JiminNC]

well noted

[ReedYoung]

"Becky really likes you but she told me not to tell you so you can't tell her I told you."

Unless it's at least as serious as Watergate, being an anonymous source is just disobeying your boss and reporting anonymous sources is not journalism, it's just gossip.

[oldpol2]

right on!

[mountainweb]

Yet another nail in the coffin of journalism, I can remember the day when they reported the news instead of the reporters personal opinions of what they thought the news should have been.

[CarltonBanks]

I cant remember that day but maybe Im too young.

[farii]

this seems to be the new journalistic way of doing things in the the media these days,and most people just goes along with it..

[farii]

no time for real investigated journalism skills no more,just trow something on the blog.and if it catches fire,add fuel..

[whiskeytangofoxtrot451]

Did anyone really think the so-called journalists in this country suddenly stop being lazy just because we had a democrat in the White House? They always just go for the low-hanging fruit. Trying to get anything more substantial requires work.

[Spartaaaaa]

NO ONE CARED HOW THEY DID IT UNTIL NOW

[denlong]

Isn't the WaPo owned by Rupert Murdoch? you expect journalism?

[TerrapinCB]

nope. It is owned by The Washington Post Company. About the same garbage though.