JOURNALISTS AND SOURCE-GREASERS

JOURNALISTS AND SOURCE-GREASERS. I had not seen in discussions of journalistic ethics any acknowledgment of the conflict of interest inherent in the use of anonymous sources. It certainly does not seem to be a major worry for journalists. But the leaker may leak selectively. Worse, the quid pro quo for the leak is often that the story will be spun to favor the leaker. The reader has no way of knowing that the story has been slanted and cannot evaluate the sources of the story. The leak is also building up favors in the journalist’s favor bank. Now I see in Mickey Kaus’s blog Kausfiles a name for a story which is slanted toward an anonymous source. It’s a “source-greaser.” I don’t know whether this is a term of art for journalists or if Kaus coined the phrase. Either way, more power to him.