As the Roberts Supreme Court nomination and tragic deaths in Iraq of a close-knit group of soldiers from Cleveland have dominated the news, some in the media have continued to cover one of the many questions about the credibility of the Bush administration--the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson. Reporter Robert Novak wrote a story fingering former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife as a member of the CIA right after Wilson blew the whistle on Bush's claims about Saddam's efforts to purchase nuclear material in Niger. Now Novak has been suspended by CNN because he walked out of the studio in the midst of a program where he expected to be asked about his role in the leak. That story has been reported in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other major news outlets. See, e.g., CNN Suspends Robert Novak for On-Air Outburst, Reuters, Aug. 5, 2005.
The walkout and suspension suggest that Novak does not want to have an open dialogue about his role in the Plame outing or his information sources in the White House.
Some are supportive of an almost absolute shield for journalists against being required to reveal their sources. A persuasive case can certainly be made for protection for whistleblowers. Without their ability to talk "off the record" to reporters without fear of reprisal from their political bosses, the media would lose access to critical information that should be shared with the American people.
It may be, however, that instances like the White House officials' role in the Plame outing are not the kind of case that should be under such source protection rules. In fact, this appears to be just the opposite of whistleblowing--cooperation of journalists with a powerful executive operation in the White House. That operation has created a White House whose decision makers and decision influencers are wrapped in secrecy, except when the White House uses information for its own purposes. The leak appears to have been intended to smear the opposition to White House decisions and to prevent the American public from knowing how decisions are made and the political motivation behind them. The media should continue to hound Novak to explain how his cozy relationship with Karl Rove and willingness to put forward the GOP party line correlate with his duty as a journalist to seek truth.
The second development in the story is even more revealing about the way executive power can be abused if the media is too cozy with the White House. Information that has come out through the investigation of the Plame affair make clear that Karl Rove, Bush's Deputy Chief of Staff, spoke with a number of reporters about Mrs. Wilson in the days before Novak's story appeared. Journalist Matthew Cooper publicly wrote about his discussions with Rove after receiving a waiver from him to reveal his confidential source of the information about Plame.
Now there is an even more damning report about White House attempts to manipulate the news. Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter who did not write a story on the Plame affair but whose reporting has often parroted Bush administration lines, is now in jail for refusing to name her source about Plame. Murray Waas, an investigative reporter for The American Prospect, writes that Scooter Libby, Cheney's Chief of Staff, discussed Valerie Plame with Miller a full six days before Novak's article revealed Plame's undercover status. The Meeting: Scott Libby and Judith Miller Met on July 8. As Salon.com suggests, its high time Libby provided Miller a waiver so that the American public can get to the bottom of the White House manipulations of the media and use of national security in the GOP interest. See Democrats to Scooter Libby: Free Judy Miller.
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