Dear
Mr. Ash,
I am writing this letter because we need you in the longer fight. You see, it's not just about Rove or Leopold or anonymous sources. It's about Jeff Gannon, Media Matters, ePluribus Media, Democracy Now!, Salon.com, (and many more) and the power of blogs to shape the national conversation. Publish a retraction, Mr. Ash, and do it now.
After reading
Peter Daou's take and the links he points to, I was dismayed to see
nothing on Truthout's home page about the fracas. The issue has reached the point where standing by your embattled reporter is no longer noble--it's damaging to the larger cause of responsible reporting. The blogoshpere is abuzz over Jason Leopold's painfully aging story about Rove's imminent (accomplished?) indictment. This is as it should be; news should be subject to fact checking by thousands of passionate readers, or, if fact-checking is not possible, those readers should ask hard questions and demand answers about stories.
Don't take those demands and questions as adversarial per se, however; we're shaking you by the lapels because we need your work to be impeccable. Our national media has long failed at its watchdog responsibility, and at last!, alternative voices are stepping up to fill the void. If those alternative news sources are to remain relevant, they have to be right. Right? Because journalism and truth are messy propositions, I'll settle for responsible.
The responsible thing for you to do, Mr. Ash, is to publish a front page retraction of Leopold's story. We badly want to continue to believe in the value and possibility journalism that is unbeholden to corporate and government power. If you continue to stand by this unsubstantiated story, it's hard for your supporters to deflect criticism aimed at silencing that alternative journalism. Until you retract, you're contributing to the chorus from within the beltway and elite media circles saying that these hacks in pajamas need to just sit down and shut up.
Substantiate or retract. Now.