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May 24, 2005
I Am Leaking This Link Anonymously
Colby Cosh, my second-favorite Canadian polymath, has a stinging analysis of the Newsweek flushing scandal. He declares that in-house sharing of anonymous sources -- Newsweek's petulant promise, and the local recommendation of one Tom Griscom -- is a band-aid on a heart attack. The real trouble, he argues, is that news agencies function like corporations, and no one has a direct responsibility to the reader.
"What today's news consumer is gradually learning is that the benefits of the division of labour may not apply, or may have reached a point of diminishing returns, when it comes to the distribution of information. And whatever benefits are realized carry serious principal-agent problems with them... What I'd recommend to Newsweek is the exact converse of what they're doing. Give Michael Isikoff his own page. Put his picture on it. Make it clear--by means of an explicit disclaimer, if necessary--that Isikoff is responsible for everything on that page. I wouldn't let anybody touch it on the way out the door; I wouldn't even correct the spelling mistakes if I could help it. He can have help if he wants it, but let the buck stop with him. Let him develop his own independent reputation instead of forever launching cruise missiles from behind mastheads."
| By mesh | 11:14 AM
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