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Comment by mtgx | Hacker News Reader

Sure, if you think unproven hearsay in NYT that we all ought to take for granted is "reasonable". If the authorities believe it was the encryption to blame, then they should come out and say it outright - with details, of course. They shouldn't hide under the "anonymous officials" tag which "believe" it was encryption the culprit that stopped them from learning about the attacks, and nothing else. It could've been just some random cop's opinion, who heard it from someone else, who was also wrong about it.

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Seriously, yes. "News" outlets for decades have printed "anonymous officials" and "inside government sources" with devastating opinions.. even worse is "So and so was CALLED XYZ by ... " this is like assigning a variable in programming, X=Y.. talk about programming the mass consciousness!

What's wrong with newspaper reporting hearsay, while describing it as hearsay?

NYT didn't seem to pass it as anything else than it is. What's your logic here? Should all anonymous sources be banned? Or only the sources with opinions that you don't like?

Probably sources that have a political bone to pick with no evidence should be banned.

Should the NYT report that a UFO passed over because some official told them so? No.

When you receive an anonymous tip, its your job as a journalist to try and confirm it, not report it directly.

Additionally, when a paper reports something with no evidence and screws up, they usually publish a retraction, not change the article and direct you to a new copy.

Because, with anonymous sources you can sway public opinion, saying pretty much anything you want without the possibility of being held accountable for it.

the NYT was instrumental in printing outright lies leading up to the Iraq war for instance, we absolutely should not trust unidentified sources from them when there is a clear political motive at play.

Actually, most reputable newspapers have very strict rules about anonymous sources, including some who ban them altogether.

Here is the NY Times Standard and Ethics Statement, which describes the newspaper's "distaste" for anonymous sources:

http://www.nytco.com/who-we-are/culture/standards-and-ethics...

In fact, that's probably the reason it was pulled: a complaint was made to the NYT Public Editor about the piece's sources.

If so, they should say so. Silently pulling the article and redirecting the URL is a little misleading.

Unproven hearsay in the New York Times has never led to disaster before <cough>Judith Miller</cough>.

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