Cobb

� Conspiracy Theories & Crocodile Tears | Main | Return of the Plonk �

September 30, 2005

Truth Insurance

Judith Miller apparently didn't crack. Instead, Scooter Libby has decided to face the music for better or worse and has released her from her oath of confidentiality.

It's hard to imagine that with all the lawyers involved and the complicated scheming nature it must require to become someone as well-placed as Mr. Libby that some kind of backdoors have been engineered to leave various players involved some breathing room. But if anyone has done the due dilligence, as it were, for dealing with the implications of truths to be told it is the intrepid NYT reporter who has just emerged from 90 days in jail.

She is seen marching triumphantly with the publisher of the NYT on today's front page. So it occurs to me that some folks have had to be prepared for this, and if they weren't that they certainly should be now. If we are going to have a contentuous relationship between the press and powers that be, it seems wise to have reporters who are willing to go the distance. My call is for some insurance and some courage.

Unlike most folks, perhaps, I am not particularly impressed with that which has passed as 'investigative journalism' over the past couple of years. I am somewhat resigned to the hope that historians will get the job done in retrospect. The pose of men and women in suits marching in slow motion has surely been an overused cliche of 'Eyewitness News' over the past two decades, and plenty of on-air personalities have made their fortunes in being bold 'investigators', none more (in)famous than Geraldo Rivera. Yet there remains a type of journalist that stick to their guns and go beyond the ordinary to capture the full breadth of a story. These are the men and women to whom much is owed. I think of Woodward (of course) but also Gary Webb, who went the distance on the CIA-Crack Cocaine story against all odds. Most of all, I suppose, I am impressed with people who have the discipline to write a book and dedicate themselves to the big picture and not merely the film at eleven.

The question remains whether or not the big media with all the money are truly interested in giving worthwhile stories legs, and if they can maintain the integrity it takes not to milk a story in progress with worthless details. Who wouldn't rather have a 3 hour exhaustive documentary and a companion 300 page book on the matter of Chandra Levy, rather than 6 months of 2 minute updates?

Believe me, we out here in the blogosphere would much rather have the former. Timeliness has its drawbacks, and so long as we are here, we're going to be better at processing the unfiltered, unedited up to the minute stuff. All we need is an AP bulletin and bloggers on the ground and we'll be on top of it. But what we'll never have are the resources to bankroll a dedicated and courageous professional to the arcane matters attending that which is worthy of national attention.

Posted by mbowen at September 30, 2005 11:58 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.visioncircle.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/4442

Comments

Posted by: brotherbrown at September 30, 2005 07:14 PM

Posted by: Debra Riley at October 18, 2005 01:36 AM