White House background briefings: Good journalism or anonymous government spin?

Every so often, a group of handpicked journalists gets the equivalent of a tap on the shoulder from a White House functionary. They’re invited to a background briefing, one of Washington’s most common, and little examined, rituals for the transmission of official spin, talking points and, occasionally, actual news.

For an hour or more, the assembled reporters will listen to and question White House advisers and aides -- “senior administration officials” in the inevitable stories that follow -- on topics of the officials’ choosing. All of it will be hush-hush. No TV cameras will roll. No names will be revealed. There will be no direct quotes (hence, the ubiquitous “senior administration officials”) and sometimes no quotes at all. Readers and viewers will never learn exactly who said what. Take our word, or theirs, for it. Is this any way to report the news?