Petrelis Files

NY Times Breaks Anonymous Source Rule Dozens of Times

On the day after New York Times reporter Judith Miller was released from jail, the paper ran an editorial about her travails and grandly patted itself on the back for limiting use of unnamed sources.

While the Times had made great strides curbing unidentified sources and explaining why select diplomats and Bush administration officials are granted anonymity, I don't believe the Times has adequately curtailed anonymous sourcing.

This is what the paper's recent report on improving readers' trust said on the matter: "When anonymity is unavoidable, reporters and editors must be more diligent in describing sources more fully. The basics include how the anonymous sources know what they know, why they are willing to provide the information and why they are entitled to anonymity," the report said, which is at NYTCO.com.

Since mid September, I've been keeping track of stories where I think the Times failed to live up to the spirit and letter of its revised guidelines on sources.

Here are the pertinent excerpts from the stories in question, following a snippet from the Saturday editorial on Miller.

I'd be curious to hear from readers who also think the Times needs to further reduce using anonymous sources, and please send me any other recent or future examples of the Times not heeding its guidelines on unidentified sources.

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October 1, 2005
Judith Miller Leaves Jail

[...] While The Times and other news organizations have made enormous efforts to restrict references to unnamed sources, it is impossible to report on what happens in any administration - particularly one as secretive as this - if journalists talk only to people who are willing to be quoted by name.

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September 17, 2005
A Frustrating Week at the U.N. for the White House Team

[...] "If we get a narrow majority at the I.A.E.A., the likelihood of doing anything reasonable in New York is not great," said a top European diplomat involved in the Iran talks. "It's probably a smart idea to take a little more time to pressure the Iranians."

[...]"The way the United Nations is run, the vast number of less developed countries sitting in the General Assembly hold the power of the purse," a diplomat at the United Nations said. "A lot of developing countries see giving more authority to the secretary general as a ploy by the U.S. and the Europeans to take more control of the U.N.

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September 17, 2005
As His Opponent Gains Support, Bloomberg Withholds Some

[...] At the White House, a senior aide said that the news was not received warmly and that the administration's annoyance with Mr. Bloomberg was promptly shared with his campaign team.

[...] Mr. Bloomberg's aides would not discuss the exchange, but did not seem displeased that the exchange had become public; it portrayed the mayor as battling the administration to which the Democrats are trying to tie him.

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September 18, 2005
The New Global Dance Card

[...] "Our biggest fear is that if the central government collapses, we will have millions of angry, hungry Koreans coming over our border," a senior Chinese official said in a recent interview in Washington.

[...] That set off alarm bells in Washington. "We told the South Koreans that the Chinese were not going to stick their necks out for them if things get ugly," a senior American official said.

[...] "It was a brush-back pitch," a White House aide said. "And you can imagine, the boss didn't enjoy it."

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September 18, 2005
With $10 Billion Spent, Poor Planning and Corruption Hobble the Rebuilding of Iraq

[...] A Parsons spokesman in California said that all work on the hospital would be completed in November and blamed insurgent activity in the area for the delays.

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September 19, 2005
U.S. and Allies Press U.N. Nuclear Agency to Criticize Iran

[...] A European diplomat involved in the negotiations said the European allies did not want to pass a resolution opposed by Russia, which holds a veto on the Security Council.

"It's not a question of how many votes we get," the diplomat said. "It's a question of who is going to vote." The diplomat was in effect saying there would not be a consensus resolution, which is customary on the atomic energy agency board. But what is important now, the official added, is that "this must not result in a split between Europe on one side" and Russia and other nonaligned countries on the other.

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September 20, 2005
Yes, Parallel Track to North, But Parallel Tracks Don't Meet

[...] "The lessons of Iraq," said one senior American official, who is deeply skeptical about the deal, "is that we can never again confront a country about its weapons unless we show that we have tried every available alternative to disarm it."

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September 21, 2005
Rice Urges Israel to Aid Palestinian Election

[...] But a senior Bush administration official who is involved in the issue said, "The word 'ultimately' was chosen carefully." Israel should allow the election take place, he added, and the Palestinians ultimately should disarm Hamas. But a senior Bush administration official who is involved in the issue said, "The word 'ultimately' was chosen carefully." Israel should allow the election take place, he added, and the Palestinians ultimately should disarm Hamas.

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September 21, 2005
Attacks in Iraq Kill 9 Americans, Including State Dept. Aide

[...] In London, a senior British military official interviewed by telephone refused to say how the troops eventually found where the two soldiers were held or who the military believed was ultimately behind their detention. British officials also said they did not know whether the Iraqi police who turned the soldiers over to the militia did so because they were in league with the group or because of fear.

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September 23, 2005
West Presses for Nuclear Agency to Rebuke Iran, Despite Russian Dissent

[...] After days of intensive negotiations, senior Bush administration officials expressed hope late in the day that, one way or the other, the agency, the United Nations nuclear monitoring agency, whose governing board is meeting at its headquarters in Vienna, would rebuke Iran before the end of the weekend, and invoke the prospect of Security Council action.

If necessary, the senior administration officials said, Europe and the United States would push for a majority vote of the 35 board members. The administration and European officials said they had at least 20 votes and could win a majority even if Russia, China and India and other larger nations were not on board.

[...] Several European and American officials said that the wording of the new draft proposal was the functional equivalent of a referral to the Security Council, a step that Iran has declared may provoke it to walk away from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty altogether.

[...] American and European officials said the situation with Iran had been fluid for days. Despite a unanimous feeling among the top envoys of Britain, France and Germany, which have been negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program, that Iran's nuclear activities should be taken up at the Security Council - they signed an op-ed page column in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday to that effect - there was still no consensus on how to proceed, they said.

'We have not decided what we are going to do," a senior European official said.

Some European officials were said to be contending that it would be a mistake to try to ram through a resolution that did not have the support of Russia and China.

"We think it's very important that a broad body of governments in Vienna stick together," said a European negotiator. "We don't want this to be a north-south issue. This is one that should concern the board of governors as a whole."

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September 24, 2005
Bush's Itinerary at Mercy Of Weather, Even If It's Nice

[...] Another White House official involved in preparing Mr. Bush's way noted that with the sun shining so brightly in San Antonio, the images of Mr. Bush from here might not have made it clear to viewers that he was dealing with an approaching storm.

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September 28, 2005
A Deal for Dreamworks Unravels Over Price

[...] Just as important, Mr. Spielberg balked at the idea that Universal wanted to be able to approve spending more than $100 million on a movie, said one of the two executives.

[...] Because of the lackluster performance of those movies, the NBC Universal executives, who were conducting due diligence, lowered their projection of the rate of return for DreamWorks, said one of the people involved in the negotiations.

[...] One executive involved in the talks said if both sides had quickly closed the transaction, it might not have fallen apart. For one, said the executive, NBC Universal would not have been forced to lower its price during negotiations to reflect the lackluster showing of "The Island" and "Just Like Heaven."

[...] For instance, the executive said DreamWorks earned $322 million at the international box office for the year through Sept. 22. (The person said this was largely because of the success of "Madagascar.")

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September 29, 2005
Palestinian Leader to Meet Bush on Israeli Strikes

[...] In Washington, a senior administration official said the White House was expected to announce Mr. Abbas's visit on Thursday.

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September 29, 2005
Effective Behind the Scenes; Roy D. Blunt

[...] Some Republicans regard Mr. Blunt as uninspiring; one colleague on Wednesday called him "a nice enough guy," while another used the words "solid, hardworking," to describe him. But Republicans say Mr. Blunt has been an extremely effective whip, bringing a string of victories on tough issues like the recent Central American Free Trade Agreement, which narrowly passed the House in July.

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September 29, 2005
Bush Reported Near to Nominating Judge

[...] President Bush is close to naming a successor to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and could announce his choice this week, Republicans close to the White House said Wednesday.

[...]
Republicans cautioned that Ms. Miers was just one in a swirling mix of perhaps 12 possibilities and that she could be the subject of the same kind of assumptions that led much of Washington to conclude in July that Judge Edith Brown Clement of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit was Mr. Bush's choice for the court only hours before he named Judge Roberts.

Influential Republicans said there was a serious possibility that Mr. Bush would name a woman or a minority candidate to succeed Justice O'Connor, particularly after the president said Monday, in response to a question about how close he was to choosing a successor, that "diversity is one of the strengths of the country."

[...] Republicans said there appeared to be less possibility that Mr. Bush would select Priscilla R. Owen or Janice Rogers Brown, federal appellate judges appointed by the president.

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September 29, 2005
Near Miss for 2 Jets on a Las Vegas Runway

[...] An F.A.A. spokeswoman said Wednesday that the agency did not believe that the America West plane had flown directly over the Air Canada plane, but that investigators were still trying to determine how close the two jets came.

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October 3, 2005
2 Marines Held, Rebels Say; U.S. Military in Iraq Dubious

[...] A spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Justice said last week that only eight women were in American custody in Iraq. Islamic militant groups have made false claims about kidnappings in the past.

[...] Also in Baghdad, insurgents fired mortars at the Interior Ministry building about 8:30 a.m., killing one police officer and one civilian, an Interior Ministry official said.