Joel Simon‘s opinion piece How journalists can cover leaks without helping spies, leaves you with the conclusion that Woodward and Bernstein (Watergate) were not “ethical and committed” journalists.
Skipping the nationalistic ranting and “compelling evidence,” which turns out to be the New York Times parroting surmises and guesses by known liars (U.S. intelligence community), Simon writes of the Wikileaks dump of DNC emails:
…
As for WikiLeaks, by publishing a data dump without verifying the source or providing its readers with the context to make informed decisions about the motivations of the leakers, it is allowing itself to be a vehicle for governments like Russia that are weaponizing information and using it to achieve policy objectives. Ethical and committed journalists should do all within their power to ensure they are never put in such a position. (emphasis added)
For more than thirty years, 1972 – 2005, the Watergate source known as “Deep Throat (W. Mark Felt),” and his motives, remained a mystery to the American public.
Yet, his revelations were instrumental in bringing down an American president (Richard Nixon).
Mark Felt was a friend of Bob Woodward and their meeting in a parking garage on October 9th, 1972, lead to the October 10, 1972 Washington Post story titled: FBI Finds Nixon Aides Sabotaged Democrats.
In case you don’t remember, 1972 was a presidential election year, with the election being held on November 7, 1972.
Consider those three dates, the discussion between Bernstein and Felt (October 9, 1972), the Washington Post story (October 10, 1972) and the presidential election (November 7, 1972). Or perhaps better:
October 9, 1972 – 29 days until voting begins in presidential election
October 10, 1972 – 28 days until voting begins in presidential election
November 7, 1972 (election day)
The timing of the leak and its publication by the Washington Post less than thirty (30) days prior to a presidential election certainly make the motives of the leaker a relevant question.
Yet, Deep Throat remained unknown and “…readers with[out] the context to make informed decisions about the motivations of the [Deep Throat/Mark Felt]…” for more than thirty years.
Contrary to Joel Simon’s criteria, Woodward and Bernstein verified and corroborated the information given to them by Deep Throat/Mark Felt to be truthful and did not explore for their readers, any possible motivations on his part.
The authenticity of the DNC emails has not been challenged and resignations of Wasserman Schultz (DNC Chair), Amy Dacey (DNC CEO), Brad Marshall (DNC CFO), Luis Miranda (DNC Communications Director) and an public apology to Bernie Sanders by the Democratic National Committee, are all supporting evidence that the DNC email leak is both accurate and authentic.
Unlike Joel Simon, I think Woodward and Bernstein were “ethical and committed” journalists during Watergate, providing their readers with accurate information in a timely manner.
Without exploring the motives of why someone would leak truthful information.
The CJR, Joel Simon and the media generally should abandon its attempt to twist journalistic ethics to exclude publication of truthful information of legitimate interest to a voting public.
Judging from the tone of Simon’s post, his concerns are driven more by rabid nationalism and jingoism than any legitimate concern for journalistic ethics.