Fox News outs Bin Laden raid author

Because it's Fox News or because it's bin Laden?

What if the L.A. Times had been the one to break the story? Or the National Enquirer?

 

Seems like this outing is one of payback for some recent things that former SEALS have done.

 

Again the ramifications are political. Really the story can't be discussed in full here so what's the point?

 

Sounds like the guy gave way to much biographical information for his identity to not be easily discovered.

I mean, how many guys on the raid grew up in Alaska?

If he truly wanted to remain anonymous, he would have left out the biographical info.

 

Is a pseudonym always newsworthy? Is this one? Would this one have been more important to protect than say, Joe Klein's 'Anonymous?'

Do you think the media, in this case Fox, "pursued" this author's name?

Or was it simply leaked to them by one of his angry former SEAL colleagues?

 

Was Joe Klein protected? I recall a lot of wondering about who wrote it but that nobody could come up with a name.

So if they pursued it or it was leaked, I am not sure how it matters.

 

I'm not sure it matters how they obtained it.

Klein's book was the one I thought of. How was he eventually outed? Did he do it himself? Did people realize he was the author and keep it hush-hush? Still, not really fair to hold this particular reporter and news outlet to those standards, if those standards were wrongly exercised.

I think his identity is extremely newsworthy. This is a first-person account, allegedly the definitive account, of one of the touchstone events of this century to this point. Certainly of this presidential administration. And certainly of the so-called war on terror. His identity is newsworthy for the same reason that the identity of any source is newsworthy. Who is he? What's his angle? How trustworthy is he?

 

I think it was leaked by someone wanting to create a contradiction and balance out the ledger. Choosing Fox was the perfect outlet.

 

They said on the news this morning that all of the proceeds from the book would go to the families of SEALS who were killed in action.

 

I'm willing to bet that this is a really important story that will have significant long-term repercussions.*

*Mealy-mouthed way of saying, I'm glad I don't live within 1,000 miles of this guy.

 

His co-author is trustworthy, and well-known.

Does that change anything?

 

But are they lucid and conversational?