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Anon. WH reporter confesses to saving info for book

Media observers are no doubt familiar with the debate over whether it's appropriate for journalists to save nuggets of news for books they plan on writing later. The purists argue that journalists are simply looking to cash in on their beats and, in the process of doing so, depriving the public of valuable information. Other authors more inclined to save scoops for later are reluctant to admit to doing it, but they'd still argue that a) oftentimes those scoops are only offered under the condition that they not be used until later; b) news takes some time to leak out; and c) there's something to be said for the long view in journalism. And so on and so on...

A piece by Fox News' James Rosen ("White House Grants Journalists Unprecedented Access for 'Insider' Books") buries an interesting little tidbit: One of the authors working on a White House book actually admits to saving news for his or her book.

At least one of the authors on the current list, speaking on background in order to protect his continuing access to officials inside the Obama White House, told Fox News he occasionally withholds information from his deadline reporting, to use it instead in his book. But this serves to make his sources more honest, not less, he argues.

And this author made the case that securing access to these sources in real time ensures that their memories -- of specific statements or actions by the president, for example -- are fresher and more reliable than they would be if they went untapped until oral history programs are conducted with them years later.

Who was it? Rosen's not saying (although noting that it's a "he" seems to rule out New York Times' Jodi Kantor). But he does say it's one of the following individuals publishing a book about the Obama White House: Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, NBC's Chuck Todd, MSNBC's Richard Wolffe, The Washington Post's Bob Woodward and David Maraniss, and the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza and David Remnick, whose book came out this month.