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AFP
New York
Protecting a potentially vulnerable whistleblower versus the public’s need to know: a US newspaper’s publication of information on the man whose complaint led to an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump has sparked controversy and debate.
After the release of a complaint accusing Trump of having solicited “interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election,” The New York Times reported that the whistleblower is a CIA officer once posted to the White House who is an expert on European issues and the political situation in Ukraine.
Lawyers for the whistleblower have deemed those revelations to be dangerous for their client, both personally and professionally.
Calls to cancel subscriptions to the Times, circulated under the hashtag #CancelNYT, have proliferated on social media, where some have demanded the resignation of executive editor Dean Baquet.
Baquet defended the decision, saying that Trump and some of his supporters had attacked the whistleblower’s credibility, and that the publication of the information was aimed at allowing readers to “make their own judgments about whether or not he is credible.”
“I think it is a tough call,” said Jon Marshall, a professor at Northwestern University’s journalism school. “The NYT was caught in a classical ethical dilemma news organizations face with two competing ethical standards to consider.” These are “to seek the truth and report it,” and “to minimize harm, which includes protecting sources and not putting them in jeopardy,” said Marshall, the author of a book on the legacy of the Watergate scandal and the press.
Like others, Marshall believes there are likely only a handful of people who would fit the description of the whistleblower, and that identifying him “could put him in harm’s way.” For him, describing the whistleblower as an experienced CIA officer would have been enough to establish his credibility.
While he also believes that the whistleblower could be in danger, Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism at Columbia University, said the decision to publish the details was justified.
New York
Protecting a potentially vulnerable whistleblower versus the public’s need to know: a US newspaper’s publication of information on the man whose complaint led to an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump has sparked controversy and debate.
After the release of a complaint accusing Trump of having solicited “interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election,” The New York Times reported that the whistleblower is a CIA officer once posted to the White House who is an expert on European issues and the political situation in Ukraine.
Lawyers for the whistleblower have deemed those revelations to be dangerous for their client, both personally and professionally.
Calls to cancel subscriptions to the Times, circulated under the hashtag #CancelNYT, have proliferated on social media, where some have demanded the resignation of executive editor Dean Baquet.
Baquet defended the decision, saying that Trump and some of his supporters had attacked the whistleblower’s credibility, and that the publication of the information was aimed at allowing readers to “make their own judgments about whether or not he is credible.”
“I think it is a tough call,” said Jon Marshall, a professor at Northwestern University’s journalism school. “The NYT was caught in a classical ethical dilemma news organizations face with two competing ethical standards to consider.” These are “to seek the truth and report it,” and “to minimize harm, which includes protecting sources and not putting them in jeopardy,” said Marshall, the author of a book on the legacy of the Watergate scandal and the press.
Like others, Marshall believes there are likely only a handful of people who would fit the description of the whistleblower, and that identifying him “could put him in harm’s way.” For him, describing the whistleblower as an experienced CIA officer would have been enough to establish his credibility.
While he also believes that the whistleblower could be in danger, Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism at Columbia University, said the decision to publish the details was justified.
