The article, "Deadliest Bomb in Iraq Is Made by Iran, U.S. Says," written by Times military affairs correspondent Michael R. Gordon, refers to "civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies" but only identifies one original source used on the record, Lt. Col. James Danna who provides no quotes about any Iranian involvement. Gordon's article also refers to public statements made by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
But in February of 2004, the paper issued a "restatement" of their "sourcing policy," after controversies arose regarding its coverage of the Bush Administration's pre-war WMD claims about Iraq and the scandal surrounding Jayson Blair, who was discovered to have not only plagiarized many of his articles but also to have invented sources.
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Gordon's article doesn't contain any explanation why his sources were unidentified, nor does it even come out and explicitly say that anonymity was granted.
"Whenever anonymity is granted, it should be the subject of energetic negotiation to arrive at phrasing that will tell the reader as much as possible about the placement and motivation of the source — in particular, whether the source has firsthand knowledge of the facts," the Times policy states.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/NYT_article_appears_to_violate_policy_0210.htmlFrom E & P
'NYT' Reporter Who Got Iraqi WMDs Wrong Now Highlights Iran ClaimsNEW YORK Saturday’s New York Times features an article, posted at the top of its Web site late Friday, that suggests very strongly that Iran is supplying the “deadliest weapon aimed at American troops” in Iraq. The author notes, “Any assertion of an Iranian contribution to attacks on Americans in Iraq is both politically and diplomatically volatile.”
What is the source of this volatile information? Nothing less than “civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies.”
Sound pretty convincing? It may be worth noting that the author is Michael R. Gordon, the same Times reporter who, on his own, or with Judith Miller, wrote some of the key, and badly misleading or downright inaccurate, articles about Iraqi WMDs in the run-up to the 2003 invasion.
http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.editorandpublisher.com%2Feandp%2Fnews%2Farticle_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003544369On Edit: Why does this guy still have a Job???