Off the Record The Press, the Government, and the War over Anonymous Sources

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. Norman Pearlstine takes us behind the scenes of one of the most controversial courtroom dramas of our time.When 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 Pearlstine shows that "Plamegate" was not the clear case it seemed to be. In his "vigorously written" inside story (The Washington Post), Pearlstine daringly challenges the conventional wisdom that freedom of the press is an absolute. Norman Pearlstine, editor in chief of Time Inc. from 1995 to 2005, was previously the managing editor ofThe 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 asThe New York Timeshave 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 Recordis 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. "‘I was born to be a lawyer,' writes Norman Pearlstine in one of the autobiographical chapters to his fascinating book . . .Off the Recordis a terrifically candid and genuinely fascinating book by a shrewd and vastly experiences journalist."--Tim Rutten,Los Angeles 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 n

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 and lives in Manhattan.