Newsweek Under Fire

"And to what end?

"If the report had come from a source who had the balls to stand by what he said, if the alleged event had been witnessed, if it had been confirmed by independent authorities, I'm not sure what the imperative to report would have been: Why did we need to urgently know this? What public good is served? If it were absolutely true, that might be one matter but. . . .

"Given that none of those if's was true -- the informant did not have the balls, the event was not witnessed by a source, the event was not confirmed independently -- and given the knowledge that such a report could only be incendiary, then why report it except to play one of two games:

"Show-off -- in which the journalist delights in knowing something no one else knows and wants to tell the world before everyone else does, even if it's not assuredly true.

"Gotcha -- in which the reporter think he has exposed something somebody wanted to hide."

National Review's Paul Marshall : "Equally disturbing is the fact that Newsweek reporters seemed to have little idea how explosive such a story would be. . . . What planet do these people live on that they are surprised by something so entirely predictable? Anybody with a little knowledge could have told them it was likely that people would die as a result of the article. Remember Salman Rushdie?"

Roger L. Simon :

"For their sakes, I hope Isikoff and Barry's source proves to be accurate because who would want these deaths on their conscience? The NYT recently went on a crusade against anonymously sourced reporting. So should Newsweek. So should we all."

NASCAR Dads : "Now can the families of the dead sue Newsweek for being responsible? Hmmmmmmm? Irresponsible reporting has now lead to death, and do you think the MSM and liberals will call for Newsweek's head? Don't hold your breath."

Left Coaster : "Now, Isikoff seems to have screwed up by relying on a single source and not getting documentary proof of the original allegation - and this is a particularly bad screw up if Newsweek is actually retracting the veracity of the story entirely. So, I would hope that Newsweek and other media outlets learn from this to be more careful about whom they trust considering the costly nature of this mistake. There is no excuse for shoddy journalism.

"At the same time, once the usual suspects on the Right start braying for Isikoff's head - which I don't think is warranted here unless malpractice is revealed (as opposed to a genuine mistake in trusting the wrong source)."

The Anchoress :