You seem to be missing my points a lot today, Michael. Let me try once more. First, there is a huge difference between a writer quoting a public official as part of a new story that is being written, and an unethical journalist making up a story, including fabricating characters, which I realize has happened occasionally.
However, I can personally think of five instances of unethical journalism in recent history, and those include two by Mike Barnicle of the Boston Globe. When you realize that thousands of news articles are written every day, you would logically conclude that this is very, very rare.
So I just find it curious that the first thing that pops into your head is that the quote is false. The odds are very, very small. If it were, the NASA official would have come forward. He did not, so I think it is fair to conclude he really said what he did.
This is a way you sometimes argue, not dealing with the subject, but bringing in anything else you can to distract from the issues. |
