AP's Editor Criticizes Those Who Questioned Iraq Source

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003528263

Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll on Friday criticized those who questioned the existence of an AP Iraq source, who was proven this week to be real, saying the scrutiny has now endangered the man's life.

"I never quite understood why people chose to disbelieve us about this particular man on this particular story," Carroll told E&P, referring to Jamil Hussein, an Iraq police captain. "AP runs hundreds of stories a day, and has run thousands of stories about things that have happened in Iraq."

Carroll pointed out that critics should be more concerned with the fact that Hussein could face imprisonment for being a source to journalists than how AP handled the situation. "A man who is a legitimate police official who has talked to journalists is threatened with arrest for doing so," she said. "Doesn't that bother anybody other than me? Officials being threatened with arrest for talking to reporters ought to be of concern."

Underscoring the dangers there, news emerged Friday that an AP staffer missing six days had been found dead, the fourth AP employee to die in Iraq.

Carroll also questioned the reluctance of Iraq and U.S. authorities to confirm Hussein's existence after questions about him surfaced following a November AP report on the shooting of six people during an attack on a Sunni mosque. The Iraq Interior Ministry finally confirmed Hussein's existence on Thursday.

[Kagemusha]

1. Apparently it only bothers her after all

Funny how that goes.