"True, you guys in Intel can't ever match the news wires," the general said, "but they don't have to get it right, or stand tall in front of a commander who sends troops into harm's way based on bad information."
That statement -- a surprise endorsement of military intelligence by a career warrior when his staff were piling abuse onto an intelligence unit for lagging behind the media -- retains its currency today. Even more so, if one looks at a Washington Post article proclaiming, "The news is broken" (http://mobile.washingtonpost.com//rss.jsp?rssid=597&item=+http%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fwp-syndication%2farticle%2f2009%2f10%2f19%2fAR2009101902988_mobile.xml+&cid=1).
The article's theme that getting it first supersedes getting it right may not be new. But in a world of Internet access and high-bandwidth communications, it is unconscionable to forego the most elemental fact-checking if one is in the business of spreading information. Two enabling forces, though, oppose truth in favor of expediency. The first is agenda-filtered data collection. This bias magnetizes reporter and unvetted story like iron filings to a magnet. They lean to the story that leans with their political and social presets. But the second force is even stronger: inertia. Accept what's handed out. It beats working for a story.
All of this is mildly interesting as long as unfiltered news feeds no important decision or action. The challenge to intelligence agencies and other dealers in corroborated, analytically supported information remains today what it was over 20 years ago when that general spoke those words to this young captain. Don't rush to be the first at the expense of accuracy, but also don't lag so far behind the sound biters that you leave decision makers no alternative to rely on.
- Nick Catrantzos
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Nick Catrantzos + Tom Goff
- All Secure
- NICK CATRANTZOS is the lead author of the All Secure website and is the emeritus security director for a large public organization. He has also managed security aspects of corporate takeovers, response to international hostage situations, and finding and keeping secrets. He has been board certified in security management, licensed as a private investigator, and certified as an incident commander. He worked as a case officer for a discreet branch of public service. He protected stealth technology at Lockheed and, later, as a consulting security director for both Kroll and Control Risks, he assisted executives with workplace violence cases and with protecting VIPs and critical assets globally in volatile areas. Nick's partner, TOM GOFF, was a captain in the Military Police Corps, U.S. Army Reserve and has a law degree from the University of California at Davis. He is a former reporter for Fortune Magazine, was senior editor at New York Magazine and Esquire, and has provided crisis and communications counsel to senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, including Lockheed, ARCO, Microsoft, Nissan, and Sony Pictures.