Howard Kurtz writes today that the media were “spun silly” by anonymous sources hinting that Edith Clement would be the nominee. As Rich Lowry pointed out on the Corner yesterday, the incorrect information “worked out ‘perfectly.’ It embedded the idea that Bush had seriously considered a woman; it helped raise the level of interest and speculation all day long; and it wrong-footed the press.”
Now, Kurtz reports that reporters are angry about it, but they can’t hold anyone accountable because they promised their sources anonymity. Oh boo hoo. When are journalists going to wake up to the fact that anonymity just allows government officials to spin them, use them, and laugh when they get it wrong? And now they want a national shield law to protect this farce?
Here’s a suggestion to all those angry reporters who are “ticked” and “feeling misled”: Burn your sources. Send a message. We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore.
Feeling misled. Boo hoo hoo.
