NYT: Our reporter is more important than say, national security

[DW]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts405

NYT relished in any opportunity to derail the war on terrorism by leaking info on a regular basis. Yet, they refused to give the same consideration when one of their own was kidnapped.

New York Times executive editor Bill Keller told CNN (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts405/32467141/SIG=13fqfhap1/*http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/21/nyts-keller-keeping-abduction-a-secret-an-agonizing-decision/) the decision to ask other news outlets not to report the story was an "agonizing position that we revisited over and over again." The Times explained (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts405/32467141/SIG=11t5m4te3/*http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/world/asia/21taliban.html):

"From the early days of this ordeal, the prevailing view among David's family, experts in kidnapping cases, officials of several governments and others we consulted was that going public could increase the danger to David and the other hostages. The kidnappers initially said as much."
The plea worked — 40 international news outlets agreed not to report on the the story. Speaking at an event Monday night, Keller said Rohde thanked him for making the decision. The Observer (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts405/32467141/SIG=12veobvpj/*http://www.observer.com/2009/media/bill-keller-and-jill-abramson-ride-times-publicity-caravan) quoted Keller:

"I was relieved this morning when I talked to David and he said, 'By the way, thank you for not making a public event out of this. We heard the people who kidnapped me were obsessed with my value in the marketplace. If there were a lot of news stories, they would have held me much tighter."


Uh huh. But lo, check it:

But there's also some concern about how the media censors itself. Kelly McBride, a journalism ethics teacher at the Poynter Institute, told NPR (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts405/32467141/SIG=120jqteg5/*http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105775059) she was surprised that the plan even worked:

"I find it a little disturbing, because it makes me wonder what else 40 international news organizations have agreed not to tell the public.

Or....what they have told the public, but shouldn't have.

[wxgeek]

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[News Is Broken]

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That's ridiculous.

[Diplomat]

It appears that Keller's ethical standards are only slightly above those of Howell Raines and Pinch Sulzberger.

[Spike]

NYT relished in any opportunity to derail the war on terrorism by leaking info on a regular basis.

Leaking classified info that may or may not have an indirect impact on people's lives isn't the same as directly endangering an individual's life through your coverage. According to the NYT, they have agreed in the past to refrain from publishing information about other people kidnapped under similar circumstances because of the direct danger that coverage might cause. They say this isn't the first time they've done this, and not just for journalists, but also for kidnapped aid workers. NPR reported yesterday that they have done the same, as has the Associated Press.

Think about how your own station might react to a request from your local police department. If the police asked a station not to release information about a hostage situation that could get somebody killed, most stations would comply. Not because they're cozy with the police, but because it's the right and ethical thing to do.

The idea that this is some kind of ethical breach is ridiculous. It's rarely an ethical breach to act to avoid getting someone killed. And it's not like the story never gets told. Whether you withhold information about someone kidnapped in Afghanistan or someone being held hostage in a bank in your own town, you eventually get to tell the story when the immediate danger has passed.

In fact, it wasn't just the NYT that refrained from reporting Rohde's kidnapping. There were about 40 news organizations that all agreed. The only people who defied the request were a few scumbag bloggers who only reported it out of jealousy of real journalists. All of us here should know how difficult it would be to get a bunch of journalists to act in concert in some sort of conspiracy to suppress information. When the majority of the world's major legitimate organizations agree to withhold information, there must be a GOOD reason for it.

I can't believe some of you people are actually criticizing the Times for acting to save someone's life.

[Diggin' Bear]

Paging Steve Centanni. Steve Centanni to the white courtesy phone, please.

Steve is an old Alaska hand who now works for Fox and was kidnapped and held for 40+ days. All those other news outlets had no problem announcing his abduction.

Thank goodness he's alive and back at work...but I wonder what HE thinks of all this. If our NYC friends have a way to get his take, I'd love to hear it.

[Spike]

Steve is an old Alaska hand who now works for Fox and was kidnapped and held for 40+ days. All those other news outlets had no problem announcing his abduction.

Did anyone request that they not report it?

Also, Centanni was not kidnapped by the Taliban. He was kidnapped by Palestians. They obviously aren't the same group.

Rohde's family asked that news organizations not give his kidnapping publicity based on advice from hostage experts familiar with the way the Taliban works. In some hostage situations, news coverage doesn't hurt and might even help as it increases the pressure on the kidnappers to reach a resolution and makes them feel more like their demands are being taken seriously. The hostage experts say the Taliban doesn't work that way. In their case, publicity makes it more likely the hostage will be killed, since the Taliban really don't have any demands and aren't negotiating for anything. More attention simply means more people will see the execution, more eyes seeing their "message."

If you want to make comparisons, they need to be made to the same kinds of kidnappings under similar circumstances.

[Diplomat]

Paging Steve Centanni. Steve Centanni to the white courtesy phone, please.

Steve is an old Alaska hand who now works for Fox and was kidnapped and held for 40+ days. All those other news outlets had no problem announcing his abduction.

Thank goodness he's alive and back at work...but I wonder what HE thinks of all this. If our NYC friends have a way to get his take, I'd love to hear it.

Excellent point. Mr. Centanni would be eminently qualified to comment on this. I hope someone has him on soon, or he writes an op-ed piece about it. I'd be very interested in hearing his perspective on this.

[Spike]

Excellent point. Mr. Centanni would be eminently qualified to comment on this. I hope someone has him on soon, or he writes an op-ed piece about it. I'd be very interested in hearing his perspective on this.

But again, did anyone request that the networks not report on Centanni's abduction? Certainly Centanni's brother didn't, since he appeared on Fox himself, to plead for his brother's release.

So who was requesting that the kidnapping not be covered? Because unless that question is answered, Centanni's case has nothing to do with Rohde.

[The Mockingbird]

Leaking classified data does kill people. Maybe you somehow feel better because you don't know the person directly, but it's the same thing.

[s'news]

I can't believe some of you people are actually criticizing the Times for acting to save someone's life.

I can.

[Diplomat]

Leaking classified data does kill people. Maybe you somehow feel better because you don't know the person directly, but it's the same thing.

Correct.

[The Thrill]

Leaking classified data does kill people. Maybe you somehow feel better because you don't know the person directly, but it's the same thing.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/images/loose-lips-sink-ships-1.jpg

[The Mockingbird]

For those of you who didn't know, there are very specific criteria for classifying a document. One of the criteria is that public release of the information would put American lives in danger.

FYI.