Out of the Shadows
A secret source goes public, putting a new gloss on the running debate over reporters and their leaks
But Felt's fears about the reaction of some current and former FBI officials were not unfounded. Oliver "Buck" Revell, a former FBI associate deputy director, bristled when asked about Felt's Deep Throat admission and cautioned that it would be "shortsighted" for the media to look at this as a testimonial for anonymous sources. "To sneak around as a whistle-blower, when you have a duty and obligation to provide information to prosecutorial authorities, to me is a total betrayal of his duties," Revell says. "The investigation every day was uncovering what went on and would have proceeded, though perhaps not as spectacularly." Even those who applaud what they see as Felt's positive portrayal of an anonymous source--one who ultimately helped his country--note that Woodward and Bernstein relied on a constellation of sources to build their Pulitzer Prize-winning Watergate coverage, a point made clearly by Woodward in the hours after he and his former reporting partner confirmed Felt's claim.
Today, the use of anonymous sources--sometimes reliance on a single source--may have become too routine, a peculiar Washington habit that can produce mistakes that diminish the news media's credibility. But with the suffix -gate affixed to every fleeting scandal, Felt's disclosure illustrates that twinning a knowledgeable, reliable anonymous source with dogged, responsible reporters can serve as a journalistic gold standard.
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