Time magazine said today that it would provide documents concerning the confidential sources of one of its reporters to a grand jury investigating the disclosure of the identity of a covert C.I.A. agent, Valerie Plame.
The decision by a major news organization to disclose the identities of its confidential sources appears to be without precedent in living memory.
New York Times ‘deeply disappointed’ with Time decision.
All the more reason for blogs, podcasting, and creating alternative channels of media and distribution. Mass media often is too timid to even attempt to rock the boat, this craven decision by Time being just one more example.
Blogs and podcasts have an inherent political element even if a particular blog isn’t political. Simply by being a part of a now fast-growing alternative media system, blogs challenge the established media powers. In the next few years, as blogs and podcasts become part of the mainstream Net, it’ll be fascinating to see how this all plays out.
Maybe, in five years, we won’t need Time Magazine to tell us the news. Ditto for TV. Maybe we can do it ourselves.