Monday - July 09, 2007
"Journalistic Code" or, Why Novak is an Idiot
Robert Novak is no more than a gossip monger. I
read
today that Robert Novak "tells all" in his new book. He's made his
living as a gossip monger and has been successful because he can project an
insufferable stuffiness and snobbishness as he tells us all the secrets of
Washington. He's really no different than People magazine except that he writes
about brainless people who can take our money away, whereas People magazine just
writes about people who make
movies.Part of his schtick is to act
as though he is privy to all the insider wheeling and dealing in politics, and
relate his tales with an air of superiority. People will listen to anyone who
acts as though they are superior.Novak
was the one, if you'll recall, who did the "tell all" article that exposed
Valerie Plame, the CIA employee with the odd name, as a CIA employee. As gossip
goes, this was not only boring, but unimportant. If she ever was an undercover
agent, and that is not clear, her manipulating the CIA for political purposes
certainly justified noting that she worked for the CIA.
Most people know now about the absurd
investigations and Scooter Libby's conviction for not being involved. But all
that could have been avoided had Novak simply come forward from the beginning to
tell the authorities investigating this non-crime how he became aware of her
status. But no, Novak had to
perpetuate the myth that gossip mongers are the high priests of politics and
immune from the rules the rest of us abide by. He's a "Journalist." Whatever
that is.
While people's fates were twisting in the wind,
Novak stirred up more and more controversy, even staging a temper tantrum on
television. When simple cooperation with the investigation would have put this
needless mess to rest, he invoked the "code" of journalism as though purveying
unattributed statements and gossip is somehow ethical.
When I was a kid, the bad westerns and
other tv shows would mention the "code" of the outlaw. Such is the "code" of
Novak's journalism. That is to say, it's laughable on its
face.
Here's why it's
laughable:
Journalists are not smart
people. They have degrees in journalism for people who can't understand math or
science. Yet, journalists routinely write about things they can't possibly
understand and get it wrong almost every time. Anytime I have been associated
with an event that ended up in the news, the story has invariably been wrong.
Not just incomplete or abbreviated, but misleading and wrong. They are the kind
of people who think their lack of understanding of the world is the natural
state of people everywhere.
Novak felt
a need to keep his source secret. Why? Because how else will politicians be
able to tell him lies and gossip if he lets people know who the liars and
gossipers are? Somehow, when Novak abets a potential criminal act it's
sacrosanct, but if you or I were to claim privilege we would be tossed in the
slammer. But then, once the scandal has played out he's free to tell all in a
book he wants to sell. How
convenient.
No one seems to question
the merits of allowing politicians to speak "off the record" and without
attribution, Novak even seems to think this is a good thing. These are people
being paid by the citizens of the United States to work on our behalf.
Everything they do and say that is related to the job we pay them to do should
be attributable. Speaking without attribution is a very convenient way to
spread lies and gossip, but if they didn't then how would Novak make his
money?
In fact, Novak's refusal to
cooperate in the investigation is not only extra-legal, it is unethical. But he
won't see it that way since that's his rice
bowl.
People who write about current
events are not special categories of citizens. They are just citizens. That
couldn't be more clear today with the internet. Anyone can write on the news
today, and they do. We are no longer restricted to the ignorant and misleading
writing of people not smart enough to have real educations or knowlege. Experts
now write on the news from their homes and do a much better job of it. We don't
have to get our only news from the AP, who pays terrorists in Iraq and Palestine
to write their news rather than send trusted writers. We don't have to get
military analysis from someone who doesn't know the difference between a tank
and an armored personnel carrier, or a howitzer from a mortar. We no longer
have to rely on pretty boys on TV who never took a class in calculus or
chemistry to explain science and
technology.
Robert Novak had a
responsibility as a human being to clear up the facts surrounding a criminal
investigation and didn't. He had a responsibility to not allow politicians to
smear their opponents with gossip and hear say. Yet Robert Novak is perfectly
happy to contribute to a multi-year political mess by not coming forward based
on incorrect claims of principle. And he's perfectly happy to abandon these
"principles" when he can sell a book.
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