BBC Says Arms Expert Who Died Was Source for Contested Report. The announcement cast doubt on the network's credibility since the arms expert said two days before his death that he did not provide the report's central contention. By Warren Hoge. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]
There is no news that news is nudged. Reporters find the most striking quotes and facts to present - it is part of the craft of story telling to convey information in as compelling a way as possible, so that people will want to read or listen or watch. If not, no one pays attention and the journalist might as well do something useful, such as digging a necessary ditch or emptying garbage cans.
Editors select a collection of stories for any given broadcast or publication issue, and that is part of both story telling and business, because if people don't pay attention, you can't tell them anything and you won't have a job for long.
But the idea of journalism assumes that in this mix of commerce and narrative technique, there remains an abiding respect for the story itself, for the concept that there is something noble in understand what the truth is and explain it. No, these are not the great truths of philosophy and religion, or even the interesting principles of science. But on the scale of existence, we must acknowledge that even with all the falling and petty evil that all of us undergo, that trying to devote oneself to something higher - even when the choice of subject is off - is an admirable attempt.
Complete evidence is still out, but there seems to be some indication that people at the BBC might have misrepresented what Kelly said, and that they certainly initially misrepresented the level of source providing their information. I don't think it is fair to blame the network for Kelly's apparent suicide, as we all have pain to bear in this life, and how we deal with it is our responsibility, not someone else's. But they are responsible for what they broadcast, and they are responsible for any fracture of the journalistic canons. The weight a journalist bears is not to a printed code of ethics, but to the concept of truth and the idea that there are things worth fighting for. Perhaps its time for some governing the BBC to consider some more useful occupation, like disposing of trash instead of creating it.
4:24:55 PM 
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