Word: newsweek
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...Netly News Washington correspondent Declan McCullagh says the unnamed villain was clear: online gossip-slinger Matt Drudge, who forced the Lewinsky scandal to the forefront by leaking the Newsweek account -- and who is also the target of a libel suit by Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal...
...Which is exactly what David Kendall is saying. The Clinton lawyer could take Starr to court as early as today, charging that his office is in contempt for springing more leaks than the Titanic. Another one of those leaks opened up Monday as Newsweek revealed that Starr has subpoenaed Ashley Raines -- a White House staffer to whom, it is believed, Lewinsky played messages left by Clinton on her answering machine. Ginsburg, meanwhile, says he will also take Starr to court -- this time to guarantee immunity for Lewinsky. The only sure winner in all this? Washington attorneys...
...Last weekend, there were two extraordinary dramas playing out in Washington." So begins Newsweek's story about President Clinton and the 21-year-old intern. But there was a third extraordinary drama playing out: Newsweek's own agony about whether the story was firm enough to go with. The editors ultimately decided it wasn't and pulled it from last week's issue--only to post it on America Online midweek after Internet scoopmeister Matt Drudge had reported both the story and Newsweek's decision to spike it, and the tale had spread on the Web until it finally surfaced...
...Newsweek looks foolish. But was it really so foolish? Even in the pages of a rival, gloating is not called for. TIME was chasing the same story and never had it to throw away, so hats off to the competition. Furthermore, Newsweek's "mistake" was in being more cautious than Drudge about publishing extremely damaging allegations about the President of the U.S. Even if those allegations are true, was the caution misplaced...
...maybe Newsweek was right to get it second and Drudge to get it first. Maybe both staked out their proper places in the media food chain. There will be plenty of times when caution will be rewarded and uncritical insta-printing will look foolish. Or maybe they were both wrong: Newsweek to spike a great scoop and Drudge to publish it. The former view is more appealing, and I'm 80% sure it's right...