LOL

I talked Tuesday afternoon with Marina Walker, the deputy director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, who told me that her organization’s model – which she calls “radical sharing” – has not proved a good fit for every news organization. In previous projects, she said, ICIJ worked with, or tried to work with, other news organizations, including The Times, and “it wasn’t always a good fit.”

Part of that, she said, is the idea of sharing all material, not keeping anything exclusive. Another part is agreeing to observe embargoes for when material would be published.

The ICIJ didn't include The Times because they're bad operators.

Mr. Asher, who will soon join Injustice Watch, and Anders Gyllenhaal, McClatchy’s vice president for news, told me on Tuesday that this jibes with their recollection of what happened. And, in fact, McClatchy newspapers were chosen as the American partners for the current project, along with Fusion, the cable television channel.

“He told us, we have a good reputation, we did well before the Iraq War, and we will follow your rules,” Ms. Walker said. (The precursor to the McClatchy Washington bureau, the Knight Ridder Washington bureau, has earned high praise for its skeptical reporting before the Iraq invasion.)

Double LOL