Such was the axiom of the Old School editors who trained me when
I was a young newspaper reporter who covered
nothing more important than school-board meetings and
Fourth of July parades. How was I to know then that their advice
would some day lead to me getting a worldwide exclusive
quote from the most famous female politician in the world?
Excuse the gloating, folks, but it's not every Saturday that this
happens to me, and the spectacular idiocy of CNN's Dennis
Zaki is worth a story all its own. Look at his online
bio:
I was a newspaper photographer and magazine photographer in the
80's and 90's. I'm also a stringer for CNN news.
I'm available for assignments. My experience includes
advertising, editorial, corporate work, portraits, and
photojournalism.
Also, if you need a clown for your kid's next birthday party,
give Dennis Zak a call!
Let's look at the
story with which Zaki destroyed whatever scrap of credibility he
ever had. Take a close look at what we call "sourcing" and
"attribution":
- Zak first links a notorious anti-Palin blog;
- Next, he says, "Multiple sources in Wasilla and Anchorage
have confirmed the news."
- Next, "A National Enquirer story exposing previous affairs on
both sides led to a deterioration of their marriage . . ."
And next . . .? Zero, zilch, nada. Having touted these
"multiple sources" in his lede, Zaki neither quotes,
paraphrases nor describes them at any later point in the
item. Nor is there so much as a "could not be reached for
comment" indicating that he had attempted to get the Palins to
verify what he heard from these mysterious "multiple sources"
(who for all we know are his wife's hairdresser, the
shoeshine man at the bus station and a night-shift
clerk at the second-largest convenience store in Wasilla.)
Ask any newspaper editor in the country whether he would dare
publish a story that alleged so much on the basis of so little.
Among the Old School editors for whom I worked was the legendary
Wes
Pruden of The Washington Times. Wes would have
personally fired any reporter who ever turned in such a
smelly pile of steaming nonsense, which wouldn't have gotten past
any assistant metro-desk editor who valued his paycheck.
Common sense: If it were definitely a fact that the Palins were
"splitsville," as one anti-Palin blogger put it, why
don't the words "lawyer" or "attorney" appear anywhere in Zaki's
piece? Even if your source was merely a paralegal or a courthouse
clerk who'd seen the filing, you might characterize that as
"sources familiar with the legal proceedings" or some such term.
Given that divorce -- like a libel suit -- is a legal proceeding,
any careful reporter might want to get his hands on
some actual documents before alleging what Zaki
alleges.
Beyond even such basic considerations of sourcing, however, the
question occurs, "What's the hurry?" Other than some left-wing
bloggers, who was competing with Zaki to be the first to pass
along this unverified stuff from those "multiple sources"?
Is it really so important to beat those people that you're
willing to be the defendant in a libel suit? (I'm not an
attorney, so I am certainly not qualified to say whether Zaki's
item is what the lawyers call "actionable.")
This insane haste to pass along gossip is what Wes Pruden
has always hated about the blogosphere. Wes's motto was
and no doubt remains, "Get it first, get it right." There is no
reason to rush to print (or, nowadays, pixels) with a story
that's wrong. Better to miss a scoop than to get your facts
wrong.
The bigger the story, the juicier the scoop, the more caution
should be exercised in reporting. That
worldwide exclusive quote from Sarah Palin? You can take that
to the bank, baby. (I made sure that the quote was
shared with
veteran blogger Dan Riehl, by the way, so
as to ensure rapid widespread dissemination on the
blogosphere.)
After I'd filed that, however, I sent an e-mail containing
the admonishment that now, no matter what happens, the Palins can
never get divorced, as this would undermine my
credibility. This was probably unnecessary, because I think
that the Palins would agree that Wes Pruden's motto is
equally applicable to marriage: Get it first, get it
right.
Otherwise, you might end up like Dennis Zaki, whose next career
-- according to "multiple sources" -- may involve a red nose and
floppy shoes.
