Pincus reflects on decline of in-depth reporting

March 21, 2006 — At the Shorenstein Center’s brown-bag lunch, Walter Pincus, veteran intelligence reporter at the Washington Post, gave a broad outline of his career so far and offered insights into how the news reporting industry has changed since his early days as a reporter.

In particular, Pincus bemoaned what he felt amounted to a weakening of ties between journalists and government officials. In the past, the public benefited from a greater depth of reporting, Pincus said, thanks in part to strong bonds of trust between reporters and their sources in government.

In the current, polarized climate in which journalists and government officials interact, news reporting has become limited and one-dimensional.