How Spin Is Made
In today's Washington Post an applied lesson in spin. Mary McCarthy had her lawyer talk to the press. The article states in the first paragraph that the lawyer denied she leaked any classified material.
A lawyer representing fired CIA officer Mary O. McCarthy said yesterday that his client did not leak any classified information and did not disclose to Washington Post reporter Dana Priest the existence of secret CIA-run prisons in Eastern Europe for suspected terrorists.
Unfortunately that is not what the direct quote from the lawyer actually says.
Cobb said that McCarthy, who worked in the CIA inspector general's office, "did not have access to the information she is accused of leaking," namely the classified information about any secret detention centers in Europe. Having unreported media contacts is not unheard of at the CIA but is a violation of the agency's rules.
(Emphasis added)
What this does is mislead by misdirection. Saying someone did not have access to information is not even remotely the same as saying that person did not leak information. But the reporter says that the satements are the same.
There was an online chat with a Washington Post reporter today. Dafna Linzer took questions.
By CDB, April 25, 2006 @ 9:59 am
So how do you leak somthing you don’t know? Just asking.
By Gauis Arbo, April 25, 2006 @ 10:05 am
Not having access to material is not the same as having no knowledge either. You can know about the general outlines of some things without being specifically in the loop on the details.
By Black Jack, April 25, 2006 @ 12:52 pm
In reference to the sort of information Mary McCarthy would have access to while in the Inspector General’s office, Saturday’s WaPo contained the following:
[A]s the person singularly responsible for sensitive internal investigations of alleged wrongdoing at the agency, the inspector general is routinely granted extraordinary access to secrets ordinarily not shared with others inside the CIA.
By Jim O'Hara, April 25, 2006 @ 3:24 pm
What part of “She categorically denies leaking classified information” is spin? You pick some secondary comment of her laywer and rip it apart, while ignoring the primary assertion. At first I thought the title of this post was directed at the lawyer, but perhaps you’re showing us your example?
Jim
By Gauis Arbo, April 25, 2006 @ 3:34 pm
Jim, did you read the quote? The quote did not say what the first paragraph said it did. It’s not secondary. The words “categorically denies” don’t even appear in the WaPo article.
You’re spinning here.
By Jim O'Hara, April 25, 2006 @ 4:18 pm
McCarthy’s lawyer said, QUOTE “she categorically denies leaking classified information” – For whatever reason the Post chose not to include this direct quote, but instead summarized it in both the first paragraph and the headline. You attempt to discredit this summarized assertion by attacking a secondary quote. That my friend is spin. I bet you were hoping nobody bothered to check to see what else the laywer said, and just accepted your attack on the secondary quote as proof she really leaked the information and was releasing some Clinton-like half truth to cover it up.
On a semi-related note, you must hate that show 24, where that scumbag Jack Bauer keeps breaking the law and doing what he thinks is “right.” He should be jailed for treason and high crimes against the country. Nobody dare speak out against authority! That’s unAmerican, right?
Jim
By Gauis Arbo, April 25, 2006 @ 4:43 pm
Jim,
Cobb was not quoted as saying that in the Post article.
By Black Jack, April 26, 2006 @ 2:33 pm
Sheep Dipped in Kool-Aid:
QUOTE “she categorically denies leaking classified informationâ€
Well, well, well, Bill Clinton went on national TV, wagged his finger in America’s face, and told a big, fat, whopper. He denied he had sexual relations with “that woman.”
It turned out what he said wasn’t so, and that lie came straight from the horse’s mouth. So, why should anyone believe anything the paid mouthpiece for a lying leaker says?
If Mary McCarthy wants to lie, she can at least follow the example set by ex-President Clinton, and come on out and lie directly to our faces. It’s what we’ve come to expect from the Left.