Yesterday on NPR Michelle Norris interviewed Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post:

As editor during Watergate, Bradlee was responsible for overseeing the paper’s coverage of the scandal and deciding whether to trust his reporter’s sources, including “Deep Throat.”

In a discussion about the number of sources required for a story to go forward this exchange took place:

Norris: I remember from my days¹ that reporters generally needed multiple sources. You needed to come back with more than one name to back up your story.
Bradlee: That is the goal, certainly. Many stories we kept out of the paper because tehy only had one source.
But, if you think about it for a minute, if the President of the United States tells you something then you don’t really need a second source. You don’t hear President Bush say this is so and then go check it with somebody. You don’t have to do that.

Hmmm, just when did the president become infallible? Shouldn’t the fourth estate be fact checking everything that government officials say? And, with regard to the current president, it should be pretty clear to the press that disassembling, dissembling and dissimulation are the norm.
We are truly in deep trouble if faith based journalism is now the norm!
¹Norris worked for Bradlee at the Washington Post.