Sometimes journalists and their sources get too cozy for comfort

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/opinion/13243152.htm

The case against Scooter Libby is up in the air, but the case against the press is solid.

Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald indicted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. on criminal charges, including obstruction of justice, making a false statement and perjury in the CIA leak investigation. The press indicted itself on grounds of coziness, self-interest and dishonesty.

So far, Plamegate - the investigation into the leaking of the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson - is revealing uncomfortable truths about the media, including icons like The Washington Post's Bob Woodward.

In the course of writing a book, Woodward learned two years ago from a government official that Wilson was a CIA agent. He did not tell his newspaper, an omission for which he this week apologized. He also belittled Fitzgerald's investigation, despite an obvious conflict of interest. The legendary journalist who inspired reporters to challenge the power structure is now an official creature of that power structure.

Judith Miller of The New York Times lost her job over a similar scenario. She didn't tell her bosses what she knew about Wilson and when she knew it. Miller testified she could not remember the source. But Libby figured in the storyline.