But when Pitts wrote his story in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, he made no mention of his role in helping to shape questions posed to Rumsfeld. In the e-mail, Pitts said he became concerned about armorless vehicles after learning he would be on an unarmored truck.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press editor initially insisted that the reporter did nothing wrong. But after Internet bloggers, talkshow hosts and other pundits raised the temperature on the issue, the editor admitted that Pitts' role should have been explained in his story.
Washington Post media critic and CNN "Reliable Sources" host Howard Kurtz said, "I think Edward Lee Pitts . . . should have disclosed in the story that he played a role. I faced a situation in Bob Dole's '96 campaign. I was in a New York deli where the candidate was about to come in. I was sitting with a woman who said she was concerned about Dole's position on abortion. And I kind of blurted out, 'Well, here he comes now. Why don't you ask him?' And she did.
I didn't suggest the question. But I was nervous enough about that, that I mentioned in my story that I had inadvertently played a role. I think that's what Pitts should have done. . . . I just simply think that if a reporter is going to play the middleman role and whisper in the soldier's ear, that a) I don't think that's something I would have done, b) I certainly would have disclosed it." Kurtz' CNN colleague, Kyra Phillips, replied, "Yes, manufacturing, and staging and orchestrating, I mean we learned in Journalism 101 you just don't go there."
Morale -- both in the field and stateside -- plays a significant role in any wartime effort. Given that, the media's role cannot be overstated. We expect reporters to report the news, not make it.