Lacking information, but not inches

Several lengthy stories were published today that suffer no lack of column inches, but do not deliver all the information that ought to be required of them. At times, reporters acknowledge the lack of access to information, but in one article, the story just seems to fall flat of being newsworthy.

In what is so far a he-said-she-said account, the New York Times sheds further light on a controversial shooting in Baghdad by security company Blackwater USA. The article acknowledges up front that several American officials provided the information presented in the newspaper and notes their connection to the incident while also noting that Blackwater itself would not provide confirmation. The structure of the article tries to recreate the order of events based on this new information, but it offers no direct quotes from eyewitnesses, which would have been illuminating, although admittedly difficult to obtain.

Gathering information is also proving increasingly difficult in coverage of the riots in Burma. A Washington Post article today admits, “Restrictions on Internet use imposed by the military's State Peace and Development Council sharply reduced the flow of information. As a result, Thailand-based exile groups and outside observers had only a sketchy picture of what was going on in Rangoon…” Nonetheless, the account combines information garnered from Burmese news services to try to piece together the latest news. The article also falls back on comments from world leaders, including Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda on the death of a Japanese cameraman, and President Bush chiming in with sentiments of solidarity.

Also lacking in information is a Boston Globe follow-up article today on the purported Whitey Bulger sighting in Italy this past spring. The article acknowledges there has been no confirmation that the man in the video was Bulger, nor have there been additional sightings of the fugitive mob boss from Boston. Instead, the article aims for a fresh angle by asking Bulger’s former longtime girlfriend Teresa Stanley her opinion of the video. Her verdict: it’s not him. Why the article meanders on for paragraphs after this disclosure is beyond my comprehension; it aims to provide a picture of life after the mob boss for the woman he left behind, but the images that emerge are little more than quotidian and fall flat of evoking much of a response from readers.