The New York Times, Washington Post, and Associated Press reported Monday that Raymond Davis—an American who shot two men in Pakistan last month—was working for the CIA at the time. And while reporting that news, all three outlets revealed something else: They had been holding back that information at the U.S. government’s request.
But the government dropped its request after a British paper broke the news a day earlier. That meant the lead editors at U.S. news organizations could go forward with their own Davis stories. The Guardian reported Sunday that Davis was on assignment for the CIA at the time of the fatal shooting, which he claims arose out of his effort to defend himself during a robbery attempt. The Guardian also revealed in the article that “a number of US media outlets” knew about Davis’ CIA ties “but have kept it under wraps at the request of the Obama administration.”
Related:
“The NYT’s journalistic obedience” by Glenn Greenwald.