Totenberg tests tenet of journalism with source friendships
Journalists often have to be friendly to sources to get information
By DAVID BAUDER
Published - Oct 10, 2022, 11:14 AM ET
Last Updated - Jun 24, 2023, 03:11 AM EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — In the last months of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's life, one of the few people who knew how seriously ill the Supreme Court justice had become was her friend, National Public Radio reporter Nina Totenberg.
She kept that news largely to herself.
The legendary Supreme Court reporter, with a new memoir “Dinners with Ruth” that celebrates that relationship, has thrust herself into a debate over a basic tenet of journalism and recalled the long history of how Washington leaders and their chroniclers co-exist.
In short, journalists need to be friendly with sources to get information. But if friendly turns to friendship, are those who depend on a news organization no longer being served?