Matt Carlson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252035999
- eISBN:
- 9780252093180
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252035999.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter looks at how two newspapers used unnamed sources in reports leading up to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. When Iraq's weapons of mass destruction failed to materialize, critics on ...
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This chapter looks at how two newspapers used unnamed sources in reports leading up to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. When Iraq's weapons of mass destruction failed to materialize, critics on the left and from within journalism chastised the New York Times and Washington Post for overly credulous, unnamed source-laden investigative reporting appearing on their front pages in the buildup to the war. The newspapers responded by revisiting their unnamed sourcing practices, but not until more than a year after the invasion. These self-assessments generated attention around two problems negatively impacting prewar coverage: the calculated press management strategies of the Bush administration, and the willingness of the competing newspapers to reproduce official statements anonymously. The complex problems marking the journalist-unnamed source exchange come to light through these efforts to attach blame both to the sources and the journalists.Less
This chapter looks at how two newspapers used unnamed sources in reports leading up to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. When Iraq's weapons of mass destruction failed to materialize, critics on the left and from within journalism chastised the New York Times and Washington Post for overly credulous, unnamed source-laden investigative reporting appearing on their front pages in the buildup to the war. The newspapers responded by revisiting their unnamed sourcing practices, but not until more than a year after the invasion. These self-assessments generated attention around two problems negatively impacting prewar coverage: the calculated press management strategies of the Bush administration, and the willingness of the competing newspapers to reproduce official statements anonymously. The complex problems marking the journalist-unnamed source exchange come to light through these efforts to attach blame both to the sources and the journalists.
Anne Stenersen
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- February 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199893072
- eISBN:
- 9780190252656
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199893072.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines the complex relationship between al-Qaeda and the Taliban after 2001. It presents a close reading of original sources from the al-Qaeda network, including “martyr biographies” ...
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This chapter examines the complex relationship between al-Qaeda and the Taliban after 2001. It presents a close reading of original sources from the al-Qaeda network, including “martyr biographies” (short, biographical stories published by al-Qaeda after a militant's death), battle footage, and official and unofficial statements from al-Qaeda militants who were based in Afghanistan and Pakistan after 2001.Less
This chapter examines the complex relationship between al-Qaeda and the Taliban after 2001. It presents a close reading of original sources from the al-Qaeda network, including “martyr biographies” (short, biographical stories published by al-Qaeda after a militant's death), battle footage, and official and unofficial statements from al-Qaeda militants who were based in Afghanistan and Pakistan after 2001.
