By Joe Strupp
NEW YORK -- Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll on Friday criticized those who questioned the existence of an AP Iraq source, who was proven this week to be real, saying the scrutiny has now endangered the man's life.
"I never quite understood why people chose to disbelieve us about this particular man on this particular story," Carroll told E&P, referring to Jamil Hussein, an Iraq police captain. "AP runs hundreds of stories a day, and has run thousands of stories about things that have happened in Iraq."
Carroll asks a very good question. The AP publishes hundreds of stories a day. Why should anyone give a damn if any of them are accurate? Grubby impertinent news reader people. Just because the AP's claim of four mosques torched and six people burned to death as troops looked on was outlandish, remains unsubstantiated and government officials said the source didn't exist.
E&P scribbler Joe Strupp and Carroll enthusiastically repeat several times that "Hussein" has been threatened with arrest for talking to reporters. They fail to mention that's for unauthorized blather about incidents that may not have actually occurred and could represent insurgent propaganda. If in fact Jamil exists, of course. The Ministry of Interior's record on that is spotty and the AP seems to have lost track of him just as he's been "found."
Strupp also fails to include any quotes or material supporting his lede's claim that Jamil's "life" ... if in fact he has one ... is in danger as a result of the blogosphere's attention.
Here's the rest of this E&P/AP lovefest. Don't miss the picture of Carroll with her "Hussein currently exists" grin on.
Tapscott at the Examiner.
Bill needs more than just the AP's word for it.
What's the matter with these grubby pajama-clad bloggers? The AP's word not good enough? It was good enough for E&P, which considers Jamil's existence "proven." Curt at Flopping Aces also impertinently demands independent verification.
Confederate Yankee wonders at how the silent have found their tongues. Meanwhile, ConfYank delves into the heart of the matter: it's not just about whether this guy "exists," it's about what he "said."
LGF is touched by Carroll's concern for Jamil.
Jawa finds Carroll's concern about Jamil's exposure on the blogosphere odd, seeing as the AP put his name in front of a lot more people than the pajama-wearing watercooler set ever did.
Protein Wisdom examines Jamil's past.
Flopping Aces has an update out of Baghdad that answers a few questions.
4 comments:
Excerpted and linked at Jamil identified, facing arrest? -- Day 3. I was beginning to worry I was the only one left who still can't see the emperors new clothes. Still working on my post and will no doubt add to it as the day goes on. It starts off like this:
Never was the patient type. I'm ready for mugshots, or at least a CENTCOM news release. It's been a good 32 hours since the big AP announcement that Jamil's been identified and at this point all we have is their word for it. I'm more than a little disappointed with the number of right-of-moonbat bloggers who are simply taking that at face value. Guess I'll go ahead and get the framework for a new post in place, get some sleep, and hope there's big news breaking by the time I get up. In the mean time I'll still stand by the prediction I made in my last two posts:
"What we're going to be hearing by Saturday is:
Jamil's afraid of getting arrested so he's gone so deep underground that even his old AP contacts can't find him. But we really did talk to him last week. Really we did. Really!"
It'll be almost noon in Baghdad by the time I post this. Tick. Tick. Tick.
who was proven this week to be real
All I saw was just another assertion.
habeas corpus baby, habeas corpus
Every time I think the AP can't sink lower in my estimation...
Yeah, odd how AP published his name in 61 stories to an average of say 1 billion readers per story. That's 61 BILLION views/impressions of the poor "Police Captain's" name already. So now the bloggers are at fault for letting a few hundred thousand readers see this already well-publicized name? Too funny AP - in fact that's pretty pathetic New Math you're using there!
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