Posted by Jim Lindgren:
Will Kerry's Military Records be Released to the Public?--
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_06_12-2005_06_18.shtml#1118631161
Thomas Lipscomb of the Chicago Sun-Times has a [1]column on nagging
doubts about the Kerry releases of military records to the Boston
Globe and the LA Times (tip to [2]Powerline).
An excerpt:
Now that the Boston Globe has in its possession what it claims are
Kerryâs âfull military and medical recordsâ is the Globe ready to
make these much-anticipated records available to the public?
Managing Editor Mary Jane Wilkinson replied, âIt is my
understanding that Kerry will release these papers to anyone else
now that he has signed the Form 180. The Boston Globe is not going
to make available the papers we have received.â
But âthe onus is on the Globe to explain why they are not releasing
the records. They at least ought to give the public some reason,â
according to former journalism dean and Fordham University Larkin
professor Everette Dennis.
âWith the opportunity to release the Kerry material on the internet
inexpensively, there certainly is no physical problem preventing
the Globe from publishing them,â Bill Gaines, a two-time Pulitzer
Prize winner and Knight Professor of Journalism at the University
of Illinois, told me. âThe decision they have made certainly
doesnât seem to be in the interest of their readers and not very
good journalism.â
Both the Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times claim that Kerry will
release any papers in their possession to anyone else who applies.
But that isnât what The New York Sunâs Josh Gerstein found when he
called Kerryâs able press representative, David Wade. Gerstein
reports: âAsked whether the senator would permit release of the
records to The New York Sun, Mr. Wade said, âThe issue is over.â"
But it isnât. And it wonât be until the public has access to the
SF-180 which procured release of the papers. Freedom of Information
Act requests for it are now under way. Those requests will most
likely be successful, perhaps as early as next week. And there is
nothing barring its release before those requests are processed but
John Kerry, and The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe. ...
And The Boston Globe made several calls to editors at the Chicago
Sun-Times, complaining that I was giving them the kind of
unpleasant treatment reporters give sources who stonewall on
questions about matters they think are of vital public interest.
They were right. I was. And those questions got the Globe to admit
they had the SF-180 two days later.
Perhaps now they will release it and even Kerryâs worst critics
will find it in order and finally be silenced. In that case, David
Wade may be right: âThe issue is over.â
I also have a brief post on Kerry's grades.
References
1.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/shoptalk_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000955265
2. http://powerlineblog.com/archives/010719.php
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