Newsweek Cleans House, Foley Stays Dirty

I will give credit when it is due. Newsweek got off easy for their egregious error, but perhaps some small good has come of it.

'Newsweek magazine will only use anonymous sources with the approval of a top editor from now on, the editor said on Sunday after a retracted report on abuse of the Koran ignited riots in the Muslim world.'

Newsweek tightens sourcing after Koran story

"From now on, only the editor or the managing editor, or other top editors they specifically appoint, will have the authority to sign off on the use of an anonymous source," Richard Smith, Newsweek's chairman and editor-in-chief, wrote in the edition of the magazine for sale this week.

The name and position of such a source will be shared with the top editor, and the magazine will try to characterize the source appropriately, Smith said in his letter to readers explaining how news-gathering procedures would be improved following the retracted report.

"The cryptic phrase 'sources said' will never again be the sole attribution for a story in Newsweek," he said.

Well, good for Newsweek. I’ll stop beating them up for now. The problem of bias still exists, but at least a biased reporter will have to use a legitimate source.

Linda Foley should follow Newsweek’s example. Foley had no source at all from what I can tell.

"What outrages me as a representative of journalists is that there’s not more outrage about the number, and the brutality, and the cavalier nature of the U.S. military toward the killing of journalists in Iraq."

"They target and kill journalists ... uh, from other countries, particularly Arab countries like Al -, like Arab news services like Al-Jazeera, for example. They actually target them and blow up their studios with impunity."

I will continue posting this quote. MSM has been deathly silent on the issue since Friday when the Washington Times posted a small article on the subject. I am beginning to believe that Ms. Foley is the most powerful media figure in America. It’s as though a gag order is in place. I have absolutely no source for this theory, but since she set that standard, I believe I am within the bounds of fairness in making such a charge.

Bloggers: I urge you not to let this issue die. Linda Foley should not be allowed to determine what is news and what isn’t. Nor should she be able to denigrate our military with outrageous comments such as those above and remain unscathed. Keep up the fight. I would rather lose it honorably than cave on this one.

In Sports:

Nats 9, Blue Jays 2
First win in Canada since the move.