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When Norman Pearlstine—as editor in chief of Time Inc.—agreed to give prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald a reporter’s notes of a conversation with a “confidential source,” he was vilified for betraying the freedom of the press. But in this hard-hitting inside story, Pearlstine shows that “Plamegate” was not the clear case it seemed to be—and that confidentiality has become a weapon in the White House’s war on the press, a war fought with the unwitting complicity of the press itself.
Watergate and the publication of the Pentagon Papers are the benchmark incidents of government malfeasance exposed by a fearless press. But as Pearlstine explains with great clarity and brio, the press’s hunger for a new Watergate has made reporters vulnerable to officials who use confidentiality to get their message out, even if it means leaking state secrets and breaking the law. Prosecutors appointed to investigate the government have investigated the press instead; news organizations such as The New York Times have defended the principle of confidentiality at all costs—implicitly putting themselves above the law. Meanwhile, the use of unnamed sources has become common in everything from celebrity weeklies to the so-called papers of record.
What is to be done? Pearlstine calls on Congress to pass a federal shield law protecting journalists from the needless intrusions of government; at the same time, he calls on the press to name its sources whenever possible. Off the Record is a powerful argument with the vividness and narrative drive of the best long-form journalism; it is sure to spark controversy among the people who run the government—and among the people who tell their stories.
Norman Pearlstine, editor in chief of Time Inc. from 1995 to 2005, was previously the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal; he trained as a lawyer before making his career as a journalist. He is now a senior adviser to the Carlyle Group. He lives in Manhattan. When Norman Pearlstine—as editor in chief of Time Inc.—agreed to give prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald a reporter’s notes of a conversation with a “confidential source,” he was vilified for betraying the freedom of the press. But in this hard-hitting inside story, Pearlstine shows that “Plamegate” was not the clear case it seemed to be—and that confidentiality has become a weapon in the White House’s war on the press, a war fought with the unwitting complicity of the press itself.
Watergate and the publication of the Pentagon Papers are the benchmark incidents of government malfeasance exposed by a fearless press. But as Pearlstine explains with great clarity and brio, the press’s hunger for a new Watergate has made reporters vulnerable to officials who use confidentiality to get their message out, even if it means leaking state secrets and breaking the law. Prosecutors appointed to investigate the government have investigated the press instead; news organizations such as The New York Times have defended the principle of confidentiality at all costs—implicitly putting themselves above the law. Meanwhile, the use of unnamed sources has become common in everything from celebrity weeklies to the so-called papers of record.
Pearlstine calls on Congress to pass a federal shield law protecting journalists from the needless intrusions of government; at the same time, he calls on the press to name its sources whenever possible. Off the Record is a powerful argument with the vividness and narrative drive of the best long-form journalism; it is sure to spark controversy among the people who run the government—and among the people who tell their stories.
"Mr. Pearlstine’s central argument is compelling, particularly his contention that when a news outlet has fought a First Amendment case all the way to the Supreme Court and lost, continued resistance amounts to defying the entire legal system, a choice that should be reserved for truly extraordinary causes. 'No one is above the law and that includes publishers,' he writes."—William Powers, The New York Times “Back in the summer of 2005 it was no fun being Norman Pearlstine. As editor in chief of Time Inc., he had been battling Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the tenacious special prosecutor investigating the Valerie Wilson case . . . Mr. Pearlstine took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, which early that summer declined to review it. Having thus exhausted all legal remedies, he faced a stark choice: He could continue resisting—meaning jail time for Mr. Cooper and costly fines for Time Inc.—or wave the white flag. In a decision he described at the time as ‘the most difficult I have made in more than 36 years in the news business,’ Mr. Pearlstine gave in, turning over Mr. Cooper’s notes (against the reporter’s wishes) and other files Mr. Fitzgerald had requested. The media class was stunned . . . Off the Record is Mr. Pearlstine’s effort to defend his choice. This is no easy trick. Media bigs are not a very sympathetic class to begin with. And despite the professional and social price Mr. Pearlstine paid for the decision, by complying with the subpoenas it really did appear he had taken the easy way out, sparing himself and his company a lot of trouble and expense . . . Along the way he traces the evolution of Time Inc.’s legal strategy, which sounds boring but isn’t. His many years as a reporter and editor for The Wall Street Journal are evident in the clean, engaging way he tells such back-room tales as his decision to dump the renowned First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams (who, in addition to representing Time Inc. and Mr. Cooper, also represented Judith Miller, then a reporter for The Times, in the Wilson affair) . . . Pearlstine’s central argument is compelling, particularly his contention that when a news outlet has fought a First Amendment case all the way to the Supreme Court and lost, continued resistance amounts to defying the entire legal system, a choice that should be reserved for truly extraordinary causes. ‘No one is above the law and that includes publishers,’ he writes."—William Powers, The New York Times "‘I was born to be a lawyer,’ writes Norman Pearlstine in one of the autobiographical chapters to his fascinating book . . . Off the Record is a terrifically candid and genuinely fascinating book by a shrewd and vastly experiences journalist.”—Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times “This is a brutally honest, tough, savvy, and absolutely riveting book. Norman Pearlstine gives us the behind-the-scenes narrative of the Valerie Plame case and uses it to reexamine the rules of engagement between reporters and sources. With his deep knowledge of journalism and the law, he is the perfect person to write such a book. The result is a gripping and surprisingly candid narrative as well as a provocative analysis of a topic critical to the future of journalism and democracy.”—Walter Issacson, president of the Aspen Institute and author of Einstein
"Norman Pearlstine pulls no punches on either journalism or law in this fascinating book. He tells us what really happened in the Valerie Plame-Scooter Libby imbroglio, and the
- Sales Rank: #1111859 in Books
- Published on: 2007-06-26
- Released on: 2007-06-26
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.25" h x 1.07" w x 5.50" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 304 pages
From Publishers Weekly
The author endured a firestorm of criticism from fellow journalists when, as editor-in-chief of Time Inc., he turned over Time reporter Matt Cooper's notes on confidential sources in the Valerie Plame scandal to special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. In this defensive apologia, he explains his reasons for defying what he allows is a hoary journalistic tradition of going to jail to protect sources. Pearlstine, who holds a law degree, cites a high-minded conviction that journalists aren't above the law, but admits that the tipping point in his decision was his formulation of a hairsplitting legalistic distinction between confidential sources, who should be protected, and mere deep-background anonymous sources, who can be given up to the grand jury. Along the way, he discusses at length the critics who accused him of putting Time-Warner's profits above journalistic principle as well as New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who went to jail to protect her Plame sources (before finally testifying). He also raises some cogent points about journalists' abuses of anonymous sourcing conventions. Readers already persuaded of Pearlstine's pusillanimity may find his lawyerly self-justifications less than convincing.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* A generation after Watergate, "Plamegate" has reignited heated debate about the government, the press, and the use of anonymous sources. Pearlstine was editor in chief of Time Inc. when he made the decision to hand over a reporter's notes to the federal prosecutor investigating the leak of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, allegedly to punish her husband for criticizing the Bush administration. In this absorbing book, Pearlstine addresses the criticism, sometimes vitriolic, of his decision to reveal a confidential source. Pearlstine argues that Plamegate was hardly comparable to Watergate or the Pentagon Papers, hailed as benchmarks of the struggle between a free—and fearless—press and a government bent on secrecy and skulduggery. He argues that the press has been so enamored of confidential sources since Watergate that it is in danger of seeing itself as above the law. He notes that most confidential sources are hardly worth protecting, having their own hidden agendas. Pearlstine advocates a balance: a federal shield law to protect journalists and more willingness on the part of reporters to disclose. Regardless of how readers feel about his actions, this is a vital look at press responsibility in monitoring the government and itself. Bush, Vanessa
Review
“This is a brutally honest, tough, savvy, and absolutely riveting book. Norman Pearlstine gives us the behind-the-scenes narrative of the Valerie Plame case and uses it to reexamine the rules of engagement between reporters and sources. With his deep knowledge of journalism and the law, he is the perfect person to write such a book. The result is a gripping and surprisingly candid narrative as well as a provocative analysis of a topic critical to the future of journalism and democracy.”—Walter Issacson, president of the Aspen Institute and author of Einstein
" Norman Pearlstine pulls no punches on either journalism or law in this fascinating book. He tells us what really happened in the Valerie Plame-Scooter Libby imbroglio, and the lessons for freedom of the press." —Anthony Lewis, longtime New York Times columnist and author of Gideon's Trumpet
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
How journalism handles anonymous sources, and what's been wrong with that
By S. J. Snyder
Norman Pearlstine was until 2005 editor-in-chief of Time, Inc., the entire stable of Time's magazines, from Time itself through Fortune, Sports Illustrated and many others on to People (which Pearlstine says often does the best job in handling sources) and more.
As editor-in-chief at that time, he had the ultimate call on how to handle special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's subpoena of both Time writer Matt Cooper and Time, Inc., followed by Judge Thomas Hogan's civil contempt finding when Time, Inc. and Cooper were initially recalcitrant.
First, Pearlstine knows his editorial chops. Before moving to the Time stable, he was managing editor of the Wall Street Journal. And, he knows his legal issues, too, having obtained a law degree.
As such, he carefully nuanced his company's response to various steps in the legal process before the Supreme Court finally refused to hear the appeal from the appellate court level.
At that point, he decided his company and Cooper had to obey the subpoena, even if he didn't totally like it. Immediately, journalistic critics from inside the field descended like locusts, calling Pearlstine a sellout to the TimeWarner board of directors, shareholders, etc. That was in spite of the fact that, when countered what they would do in a similar situation themselves, most the critics either refused to respond or said they would have done what he did.
Pearlstine in large part faults reporters and journalistic entities, especially those inside the Beltway, for bringing this problem on themselves. While he doesn't hit it as hard as he could have, he picks up on the issue of journalists running with the Fourth Estate idea to consider themselves stars, and ultimate becoming a quasi-political part of the problem.
Beyond that, he notes many journalists are sloppy about granting confidentiality too freely and too quickly, not discussing carefully, and relatively early in the sourcing progress, what level of attributional confidentiality the source wants and the reporter is willing to give, and not distinguishing between confidential sources, and true, reporter subpoena-resisting anonymous sources. (Pearlstine found, independently of Karl Rove's lawyer saying he had never asked for anonymity, that Rove was indeed not an anonymous source, and that Matt Cooper was guilty of some of the errors laid out above.)
Short of a SCOTUS revisiting of Branzburg (which, given the current Court, could be disastrous), Pearlstine says the need for a federal shield law is paramount. He discusses various attempts that have recently been put through Congress, and the hostility of the Bush Administration to even a mild, loophole-filled version.
Beyond that, Pearlstine is refreshing for his challenge to his own, and my own, profession. He clearly states that a shield law should not be absolute, that reporter-source sourcing agreements are a contract of sorts, that the ultimate call on changing their terms belongs to sources and not reporters, and that many reporters, above all investigative reporters, need to be on a tighter editorial leash, citing former New York Times reporter Judith Miller as Exhibit No. 1.
In short, if you want a great look at how today's Beltway journalism operates, followed by a prescription for how it should operate, this book is a winner.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
the minutia of modern politics and the law
By James Neville
This is an important book. Part memoir and part explanation, "Off the Record" documents the Karl Rove affair from the perspective of Norman Pearlstine, boss of Time Inc. at the time, who was vilified for turning over records to a government investigation and thus supposedly violating journalism values esteemed since Watergate. Except it wasn't so simple, as this book makes clear in an entertaining and engaging manner.
Pearlstine trained as both lawyer and journalist and had a powerful career, including managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, before his 10-year post with Time Inc.
At Time Inc. Pearlstine was responsible for major magazines including Time, People, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, and Fortune. The Karl Rove affair occurred when someone's wife was "leaked" to be a CIA employee, and a government investigator was assigned to determine if laws had been broken. No espionage law was found to have been violated; but a government employee was indicted for false testimony in front of a grand jury.
The case was confusing and involved the minutia of modern politics and the law. Pearlstine reveals how inadequate were journalistic standards of the time for use of anonymous and confidential sources; also how widespread the use of deliberate "leaks". The appendix includes Pearlstine's new standards for editors and reporters for modern media including online as well as broadcast and print. In a brilliant and readable review, the author explains the differences in the romance of Watergate from the issues at play in Plamegate - including criminal vs. civil contempt and corporate vs. personal citations by a ruling court.
Until this book, I had no idea of the important connection between legal savvy and journalistic savvy. What seemed to be trivial minutia turned out to be important distinctions, and Pearlstine explains them well. In the aftermath of the Karl Rove affair, more and more journalists came to appreciate the difficulty of the decision Pearlstine faced, and to empathize if not agree with him.
I enjoyed this book because it is well written by a man with passion and intelligence. He has a good story to tell and good points to make. I have a new appreciation with which to follow modern political and legal debates being worked out in the public and not-so-public domains. I can't help but wonder what Pearlstine will be up to next: he handed Time Inc. over to his planned successor in 2005 before writing this book.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Failed to address an important topic
By Doran Blue
This is a dense book covering the topic of journalist sources in some detail. I was therefore disappointed that Pearlstine did not spend more time discussing the issue of the government using a willing press to further its agenda, thereby turning journalists into uncritical mouthpieces for the administration.
How convenient that the government hides behind confidential sources in these circumstances. And should newspapers support journalists who cozy up to powerful sources in this way?
The worse case of this has to be the reporting on WMD prior to the war with Iraq. The media failed to do its job, and lost alot of credibility as a result. Pearlstine alludes to this somewhat in his discussion of Judith Miller, but I believe he should have covered this topic more.
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