Thursday, November 02, 2006
Critics: Be wary of experts, observers
Here are a couple of good pieces on unidentified sources:
- The Orlando Sentinel's public editor, Manning Pynn, writes in his most recent column about what he calls "phantom attribution." He is concerned about the "observers" and "well-informed sources" who populate stories.
- John McIntyre of The Baltimore Sun explores similar territory in this post at his blog, You Don't Say. In addition to mention of "seasoned political observers," he laments the ongoing use of "war chest" and other political jargon.
I would add "critics" to the list of suspect words, as in "critics say" when the story never identifies or quotes those critics.
posted by Andy Bechtel at 11:16 AM
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