On Monday night, the Washington Times announced that it would conduct an inquiry into the work of longtime columnist Arnaud de Borchgrave, following allegations that he’d lifted material from other sources on the Internet. Ed Kelley, the paper’s top editor, said that the allegations about de Borchgrave’s work “require attention.” Not to mention a bit of Internet hiding. Check out the author page for de Borchgrave on the Washington Times site. The links to recent columns by the reporter lead to dead ends: “This story is no longer available on the site.” Older pieces from de Borchgrave’s archive appear active at this writing. A source at the paper indicates that the link deactivating took place yesterday, presumably as a part of the investigation. The story ... Continue reading →

Follow me @jonathanwpeters on Twitter. James Risen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the New York Times, won’t reveal his sources. He’s at the center of the federal criminal prosecution of Jeffrey Alexander Sterling, indicted in 2010 for, among other things, the unauthorized disclosure of national defense information. Risen is the author of the 2006 book State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration, and he’s written a number of articles for the New York Times about the CIA and the intelligence community. The book and articles reported on a series of illegal or potentially illegal actions taken by President George W. Bush. Here’s the background story, the CliffsNotes version. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) subpoenaed Risen in 2008 to ... Continue reading →

Yet Another Survey: Fox News Viewers Worst-Informed, NPR Listeners Best-Informed » 1 comment A new survey from Farleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind finds that people who watch no news at all can answer more questions about international current events than people who watch cable news outlets like Fox News and MSNBC. The survey also finds that Fox News viewers are the worst-informed on domestic and international current events, while NPR listeners are the best-informed. The poll report claims that “NPR and Sunday morning political talk shows are the most informative news outlets, while exposure to partisan sources, such as Fox News and MSNBC, has a negative impact on people’s current events knowledge.” Each surveyed individual was asked four of the eight questions listed at the bottom ... Continue reading →