Not to name names...

In response to the following statement posted on Oct. 25 to the Political Insider blog on azcentral.com:

"In a letter Arpaio sent to supporters last week, he painstakingly lays out the left-wing conspiracy working against him - name-dropping the Rev. Al Sharpton, President Barack Obama, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, ACORN and a few media outlets."

Sheriff Joe Arpaio was making threats about what would happen if the voters did not free up some of the money that was being saved for education and healthcare, among other things.

Which is fine because that's just what Arpaio does. It's in his nature to be unreasonable and attention-seeking.

What was important to note about this statement were the words highlighted in blue. The bloggers and contributers to this topic, some of whom are considered fairly insightful and transparent writers at the Arizona Republic, name-dropped all of the names that Arpaio was citing, except for the media outlets.

More likely than not, the Arizona Republic was one of the primary media outlets that Arpaio was calling out.

He has his own blog that is targeted at the Republic called "The Truth Behind the Headlines," which cites the majority of the writers who contributed to this blog.

I think that the journalists may have felt that naming those media outlets, specifically the Republic in their own story, would take away from their argument.

I understand their reasoning, but I think it is important to be transparent with the readers. If Arpaio is accusing the Republic and other local outlets of criticizing him, we have no reason not to own that accusation. One of the biggest responsibilities of the modern newspaper is to be accountable to the readers and to hold public officials to a high standard of skepticism.

I think most readers would have understood if we named the specific media outlets in these circumstances.