On writing emails that might get read

Marc Ambinder, White House correspondent at the National Journal, expects some of his emails to Kurt Bardella, former spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa, are in the hands of New York Times reporter Mark Leibovich, who's writing a book about the coziness between Washington and the Washington press corps. Ambinder doesn't think Leibovich will find them useful. Because while he hopes his sources to be discreet, he doesn't bet on it:

There is a general understanding, a hidden law, a common presupposition, that e-mail isn't intended for forwarding. Reporters and sources have a mutual interest in being honest and upfront with each other, so each assumes that, if they consider the relationship important, they would not violate this implied confidentiality.

This is all an ideal. Unfortunately, a lot of journalists and many sources face extreme pressure to be information dealers, to trade information they get for better information, to "blow up" one source in favor of another. This tension is exacerbated by the competitive landscape for news organizations. Bardella knows that the snowflake scoop, the micro-scoop, the gossamer-thin scoop that leaves no imprint the next day, is the bread and butter of many of a news organization.

-snip-

When I interact with a source, I hope the source will be discreet - that he or she won't pre-empt my query by giving a story to someone else, or that he or she won't share my style of journalistic flirtation with others.

But I do not expect discretion. I expect just the opposite: I expect my e-mails to be shared with others. I hope they aren't but I write them with the expectation that they will be. That's not ideal, but that's the way it is.

Another Daily Journal memo

The California Real Estate Journal, a sister publication of the Los Angeles Daily Journal, is folding, according to a memo obtained by LA Observed. The editor of the shuttered trade paper, Michael Gottlieb, will take a job as associate editor at the Daily Journal and several CREJ reporters might follow.

The memo, written by DJ editor David Houston, has some other news as well. First, DJ reporter Evan George won a national award for his health care coverage. Second, Houston praises the DJ as the future of newspapers and recommends reporters read the Wall Street Journal and beat-related blogs.

Finally, Houston admonishes reporters to get into the office by 9 a.m. and to email to their assignment editors by 9:15 a.m. with an update on what the reporter is working on that day. I'd guess the email plan will last a week. Maybe two.

Surprise! China used Google to spy on activists

Google has threatened to pull the plug on its operations in China after discovering that the emails of human rights activists had been hacked.

From AP:

The company disclosed in a blog post that it had detected a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China." Further investigation revealed that "a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists," Google's post said.

Google did not specifically accuse the Chinese government. But the company added that it is "no longer willing to continue censoring our results" on its Chinese search engine, as the government requires. Google says the decision could force it to shut down its Chinese site and its offices in the country.

Newspaper held on to Sanford emails

The State, a newspaper in South Carolina, has published an email exchange between Gov. Mark Sanford and the Argentinian woman he admitted today to having an affair with. The paper said it first obtained the emails in December but held off publishing them until it could authentic them. That's no longer necessary, it seems.