The Russert Rules, named after Tim Russert, is a new "ethical" standard for journalists, which turns them into, essentially, stenographers.
From a rush transcript of Russert’s testimony in the Libby case:
My personal policy is always off the record when talking to government officials unless specified.
The rule puts all government officials in total control of what they say to any reporter. This is the opposite of what I was taught in journalism school.
Russert apparently believes that his access to newsmakers depends on his willingness to keep any secret they choose to divulge, until they give him permission to divulge it. Since this is the Washington Bureau Chief of NBC, the host of Meet the Press, since we’re talking here of Washington, D.C., the highest-profile beat in the world, the Russert Rule has been adapted, or forced down the throats of nearly every beat reporter in our time.
I write this with a sense of shame for myself and the "profession" I
have tried to follow these last three decades. But what Russert allows
is what others assume. What the leaders grant is then taken by all the
followers.
This is especially true on the technology beat, where I work.
Twice in the last two several months I have had this happen. I do an
interview with a source, with a release date of some days or weeks
ahead. I find out that the story has been broken by someone else. I
return to the source, telling them the story is broken, asking to be
released to "tell the truth."
Permission is denied. Summarily. Without thought. By PR jerks half my
age. And if I did break the story anyway — not that it would matter
since Open Source is a blog and not a news source — you think I’d get
a big pat on the back from my bosses? No way — they’d be upset that
their access was now threatened by my actions.
Maybe this shouldn’t concern me much. The technology press has never
been much more than stenography for the big vendors. That’s why it
collapsed with the dot-bomb — it had no credibility to fall back on,
no relationship of trust with readers that would cause them to support
it.
But the fact that this is now the general rule upsets me. And we have to blame someone.
I blame Russert.
One more point. I don’t believe the blogosphere is bound by these rigid ethics. I expect bloggers to violate them. I expect, in other words, than bloggers will act more like journalists should than journalists, in fact, do.
