Jay Rosen On Reporters

In theory we send these people out to report back to us. Some of them penetrate the secret worlds of national security and government policy-making on our behalf.

But if they keep going into the secret world they can come under the gravitational pull of another planet— the people in power, the secret-makers themselves. They’re still sending back their reports, but have “left” our universe, so to speak.

I think this definitely happened with Judith Miller, who is very far gone by now. It may have happened with Woodward too. The mysterious part is you never know exactly when that point is reached.