04 janeiro 2007

VITAMEDIAS

Como se sente um homem a dar entrevistas sobre a actualidade que apenas serão publicadas após a sua morte - dois, três, 10 anos depois?

Embargoes: Are They Necessary? Are They Ethical?
I was surprised to read in the Washington Post that Ford had given a secret interview to Bob Woodward two years ago. In that interview, Ford expressed his doubts about the war in Iraq. He stated it had been a serious error.

The interview was kept secret because the reporter was asked not to publish the story until Ford had died. Woodward agreed.

Quoted in the trade publication, Editor & Publisher, Woodward wrote that he initially interviewed Ford for a possible book, but “agreed to embargo the former president's comments until after his death.”

The Post was not the only publication to agree to an embargo.

Newsweek magazine interviewed Ford three years ago in which the former president stated that he opposed the neo-conservative influence that has pushed the Republican Party toward the hard right. [...]

The question should always be asked whether the public interest might be served in knowing this information. If so, then it can be argued that the embargo should be ignored.