Update on Pvte Bradley Manning Report: Chief Clinton Spokesman Resigns
State Dept. spokesman quits over remarks
Decried treatment of leaks suspect
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Department spokesman P.J. Crowley resigned yesterday after his disparaging remarks about the Pentagon, made to a small seminar at MIT on the power of blogging, tweeting, and Facebook, appeared in blog postings by members of the audience.
The remarks, which Crowley later described as his personal opinion, were blogged by BBC reporter and Nieman fellow Philippa Thomas. The next day, CBS’s Political Hotsheet blogged about her report. So did Foreign Policy Magazine and Salon. On Friday, President Obama was asked about them at a White House press conference.
Yesterday, the State Department circulated a statement from Crowley announcing his resignation.
In the statement, Crowley took responsibility for his comments, which he said were “intended to highlight the broader, even strategic impact’’ of actions taken by the national security agencies on US standing in the world.
“The exercise of power in today’s challenging times and relentless media environment must be prudent and consistent with our laws and values,’’ the statement read.
Some media analysts say the flap over the remarks highlights how public — and publicized — off-the-cuff comments can become in the Internet age.
“Anyone has the ability to record and amplify what is said in any setting,’’ said John Palfrey, a Harvard law professor who specializes in the Internet. “It may well help you, or it may well cost you your job.’’
Palfrey noted that Crowley’s resignation comes on the heels of the resignation of the chief executive of National Public Radio after a fund-raiser for the network was recorded apparently making disparaging remarks about conservatives.
But others say Crowley, a seasoned spokesman with more than 24,000 Twitter followers who frequently bantered with the press from the podium of the State Department briefing room, took a stand of conscience and knew the consequences.
“We are talking about a person who understands the current media environment,’’ said Siva Vaidhyanathan, professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, who said he heard about the remarks on Twitter within minutes. “If you want to get your message out, the old-fashioned way is to have a quiet discussion with a reporter as an exclusive. The new way is to let it boil up from the tweeters and the bloggers who are going to be in every university audience.’’
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