Well, the difference is the sort of one-off reporter doesn't need to worry about whether he's going to get future access or not, whereas the beat reporters, like when I was at CNN, I needed access; I needed to be able to get to the key people to find out what was going on when bombs were dropping or things were happening.
And the way you do that is you forego reporting all of the sort of off-color jokes or informal banter that goes on when you follow these guys around, focus on the big picture, and they begin to trust you. As a result, when you need to know what's going on, you get access.
If you do what Michael Hastings does, they're never going to talk to him again. Of course, he — he doesn't care. The fallout from that though is that they may also not talk to a lot of other reporters, as well.
...
Well, I have to say I think Michael Hastings did exactly the right thing. Part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice bars contemptuous remarks by military officers about their commander-in-chief. So if I witnessed a military officer violating the military law on this subject, I think I would be bound to report that.
But if I asked the general, what do you think about the President's policy, and he said, can we go off the record, I would know that if I don't go off the record I'm not going to hear what he really thinks, and I might be willing to do that to find out whether the generals really believe in what they're doing.
Comments
And the way you do that is you forego reporting all of the sort of off-color jokes or informal banter that goes on when you follow these guys around, focus on the big picture, and they begin to trust you. As a result, when you need to know what's going on, you get access.
If you do what Michael Hastings does, they're never going to talk to him again. Of course, he — he doesn't care. The fallout from that though is that they may also not talk to a lot of other reporters, as well.
...
Well, I have to say I think Michael Hastings did exactly the right thing. Part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice bars contemptuous remarks by military officers about their commander-in-chief. So if I witnessed a military officer violating the military law on this subject, I think I would be bound to report that.
But if I asked the general, what do you think about the President's policy, and he said, can we go off the record, I would know that if I don't go off the record I'm not going to hear what he really thinks, and I might be willing to do that to find out whether the generals really believe in what they're doing.
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/06/25/03
Godfather.
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010 ... ss-policy/
Godfather.