An investigation over Burma’s supposed work on a nuclear weapon by Need to Know and ProPublica has led to a “quiet explosion and some pretty toxic fallout” among those involved, writes PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler in today’s (Dec. 2) column. The controversy was ignited by accusations between those supporting the “credibility and importance” of the allegations and the producers of the segment who are “raising the flag of caution.”
“What’s interesting here, aside from where the truth lies,” he noted, “is that the dispute pits against each other people who formerly worked together, and involves well-respected journalistic enterprises and other organizations here and abroad that one would generally assume are on the side of the angels.”