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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
jakefeasel
Published Letters: 5 Editor's Choice: 1
Also, another first for women leaders - Alaska has its first woman governor, Sarah Palin. Sadly, she is a republican, but that doesn't change the fact that she represents a historic first for Alaska.
I've been amused by the numbers that I keep hearing for the population of Wasilla. This may be a case where the population strictly within the city limits is 6-7k, but that is far from representative of the town. Wasilla (and nearby Palmer) are the suburbs of Anchorage. The area supports around 60-70k, not 6-7k. This area (known around here as the Mat-Su Valley) is the second largest in population for the state, second only to Anchorage.
That's not to say that I disagree with your premise - far from it. Just thought you might want to adjust your numbers a bit. FYI, I was born and raised in Wasilla, so I'm getting a kick out of these....
FYI, it's spelled Wasilla not Wassila
My wife and I went to the Anchorage Anti-Palin rally, and we were shocked to see that so many people turned out in protest. It was unprecedented for Anchorage. The local right-wing talk radio wannabe ideologue had tried to whip up counter-protesters, but there were 10-1 antipalin-to-palin despite (perhaps partially due to?) his efforts. Police were there, but fortunately everyone was cordial, even though there were pockets of pro-Palin people mixed within the much more numerous anti-Palin folks. Even the presence of the radio talking head didn't stir any real trouble (he did earn some nasty glares, however). Good times were had by all. We really loved the creative signs - check the WPo link in the post for some examples.
Glenn,
I agree with your premise wholeheartedly, that anonymous sources are an abusive and destructive influence on our media discourse. You've brought up compelling examples of this time and again, yet I have not heard a suggestion about what we, as a society, can do to resolve this problem. I appreciate your efforts with Accountability Now, which does attempt to make a change in the real world after you've identified the problems with unrepresentative incumbents. In the same way, I suspect you have some thoughts on what can be done to solve (or at least curb) this problem.
I would like to offer my thoughts on this, as a starting point. One issue here that we can all agree on is one you reference here by Ezra Klein - "I don't know how you get out of that cycle" - namely, that since this is an industry-wide practice, those that would like to stop using anonymous sources would be undercut by their competitors that are willing to do so. This is a similar problem that other industries have dealt with, and we as a society have (somewhat) solved this by having the government regulations which require everyone play by the same rules.
I realize there are additional constitutional issues at play here. The government could not, of course, simply ban anonymous sources in journalism. We wouldn't want that in any case. However, the government can regulate the actions of its employees. Of course, if the source is anonymous, the government would be unable to directly prevent that employee from speaking. That being said, the government can effectively dissuade journalists from accepting anonymous sources by "cutting off" journalists who attribute quotes to anonymous government sources. Imagine a regulating body that keeps track of journalists who have used anonymous sources, and directs all government employees to not speak with that journalist. Then, if it is ever found that an employee did speak to said banned journalist, that employee could be reprimanded somehow.
Something like this would seriously make all journalists think twice about allowing anonymity. In those rare cases where anonymity is justified, I would imagine the journalist could appeal their banned status and try to justify it.
I would be very curious to hear what you think about this option, or any other way of effectively preventing this practice from continuing.
Thanks
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
