Should We Trust Leakers?
Should We Trust Leakers?
Anonymous Sources and the Problem of Regulation
This chapter explains the practice of leaking as a means by which officials could alert citizens and lawmakers to wrongdoing. It shows that officials are able to disclose classified information anonymously, because they recognize that the executive is often hard-pressed to identify the responsible party. However, it also highlights the fact that officials can—and do—make anonymous disclosures of classified information to advance narrow or partisan agendas by revealing classified information that casts their actions (or those of their adversaries) in a favorable (or unfavorable) light. In light of this danger, the chapter considers whether we might be able to utilize reporters, editors, and publishers to help us detect when anonymity of disclosures is being used to advance narrow or partisan interests.
Keywords: leaking, wrongdoing, classified information disclosure, anonymity of disclosures, executive
Princeton Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
