SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
FBI's James Comey Bullies NYT to Stop Publishing Anonymous Claims about Drone Killings
Jan 16, 2015
Best as I can tell, the FBI Director has officially told the NYT to stop republishing anonymous government claims about drone strikes anymore.
"Your decision to grant anonymity to a spokesperson for [an organization] so he could clarify the role of his group in assassinating innocents, including a wounded police officer, and distinguish it from the assassination of other innocents in Paris in the name of another group of terrorists, is both mystifying and disgusting," Mr. Comey said in a letter to The Times.
He added: "I fear you have lost your way and urge you to reconsider allowing your newspaper to be used by those who have murdered so many and work every day to murder more."
Oh wait. That's not what Comey was complaining about.
He's complaining about this paragraph, which -- in an article that also grants "American counterterrorism authorities" anonymity (with no explanation) -- helps clarify the relationship between the perpetrators of the Hebdo Charlie attack.
A member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who spoke to The New York Times on the condition of anonymity, said the joint timing of the two operations was a result of the friendship between Mr. Coulibaly and the Kouachi brothers, not of common planning between the Qaeda group and the Islamic State.
That is, Comey is complaining that the NYT is using the same methods -- anonymous sourcing -- to find more knowledgeable sources to explain the attacks that it uses to parrot official governmental sources. Only Comey and his colleagues' claims about the attack may be laundered through anonymity under his approach. Not better positioned sources.
Which I guess means he's happy that the NYT anonymously publishes the claims of US government officials clarifying that the civilians they kill in drone strikes are not civilians, or even clarifying whether the CIA or DOD killed a particular person. He just doesn't want the NYT to anonymously quote other killers' spokespersons trying to clarify what the killing is about.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 EmptyWheel.net
Marcy Wheeler
Marcy Wheeler is a journalist who writes the blog Emptywheel. She publishes at various outlets including the Guardian, Salon and the Progressive. Wheeler won the 2009 the Hillman Award for blog journalism.
Best as I can tell, the FBI Director has officially told the NYT to stop republishing anonymous government claims about drone strikes anymore.
"Your decision to grant anonymity to a spokesperson for [an organization] so he could clarify the role of his group in assassinating innocents, including a wounded police officer, and distinguish it from the assassination of other innocents in Paris in the name of another group of terrorists, is both mystifying and disgusting," Mr. Comey said in a letter to The Times.
He added: "I fear you have lost your way and urge you to reconsider allowing your newspaper to be used by those who have murdered so many and work every day to murder more."
Oh wait. That's not what Comey was complaining about.
He's complaining about this paragraph, which -- in an article that also grants "American counterterrorism authorities" anonymity (with no explanation) -- helps clarify the relationship between the perpetrators of the Hebdo Charlie attack.
A member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who spoke to The New York Times on the condition of anonymity, said the joint timing of the two operations was a result of the friendship between Mr. Coulibaly and the Kouachi brothers, not of common planning between the Qaeda group and the Islamic State.
That is, Comey is complaining that the NYT is using the same methods -- anonymous sourcing -- to find more knowledgeable sources to explain the attacks that it uses to parrot official governmental sources. Only Comey and his colleagues' claims about the attack may be laundered through anonymity under his approach. Not better positioned sources.
Which I guess means he's happy that the NYT anonymously publishes the claims of US government officials clarifying that the civilians they kill in drone strikes are not civilians, or even clarifying whether the CIA or DOD killed a particular person. He just doesn't want the NYT to anonymously quote other killers' spokespersons trying to clarify what the killing is about.
Marcy Wheeler
Marcy Wheeler is a journalist who writes the blog Emptywheel. She publishes at various outlets including the Guardian, Salon and the Progressive. Wheeler won the 2009 the Hillman Award for blog journalism.
Best as I can tell, the FBI Director has officially told the NYT to stop republishing anonymous government claims about drone strikes anymore.
"Your decision to grant anonymity to a spokesperson for [an organization] so he could clarify the role of his group in assassinating innocents, including a wounded police officer, and distinguish it from the assassination of other innocents in Paris in the name of another group of terrorists, is both mystifying and disgusting," Mr. Comey said in a letter to The Times.
He added: "I fear you have lost your way and urge you to reconsider allowing your newspaper to be used by those who have murdered so many and work every day to murder more."
Oh wait. That's not what Comey was complaining about.
He's complaining about this paragraph, which -- in an article that also grants "American counterterrorism authorities" anonymity (with no explanation) -- helps clarify the relationship between the perpetrators of the Hebdo Charlie attack.
A member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who spoke to The New York Times on the condition of anonymity, said the joint timing of the two operations was a result of the friendship between Mr. Coulibaly and the Kouachi brothers, not of common planning between the Qaeda group and the Islamic State.
That is, Comey is complaining that the NYT is using the same methods -- anonymous sourcing -- to find more knowledgeable sources to explain the attacks that it uses to parrot official governmental sources. Only Comey and his colleagues' claims about the attack may be laundered through anonymity under his approach. Not better positioned sources.
Which I guess means he's happy that the NYT anonymously publishes the claims of US government officials clarifying that the civilians they kill in drone strikes are not civilians, or even clarifying whether the CIA or DOD killed a particular person. He just doesn't want the NYT to anonymously quote other killers' spokespersons trying to clarify what the killing is about.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.