THE unmasking of "Anonymous", the author of the bestselling political novel Primary Colours, has led to a media agonising about "the ethics of lying".
Since the insider account about a thinly disguised Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign was published last January, Joe Klein of News week has vehemently denied he was the author, once on CBS Evening News, where he also works as a part time political commentator.
Last Wednesday he told a press conference. "My name is Joe Klein. I wrote Primary Colours." He had been flushed out by the Washington Post, which incidentally owns News week. The Post got hold of a manuscript of the book with 10 words in the author's handwriting and had an expert confirm it matched Klein's.
The press conference was uncomfortable for Klein and for his Random House publisher, Harold Evans, former editor of the Sunday Times, who insisted that Klein was "totally justified in wanting to remain anonymous" but "people like you refused to let him". The press was in no mood for lectures.
Klein got irritated with questions about how he justified his frequent public denials and how lying affected his reputation as a hard hitting political commentator.
He confessed that "it's not easy not telling the truth" and he was "very anguished" to have to lie to fellow journalists who he nicknamed the "scorps" in the book. He said he was under pressure from Random House to preserve anonymity.
The only people who knew his identity were his agent, his family and the editor of Newsweek, Maynard Parker. The latter is now having to explain how he could allow his magazine to engage in a guessing game like other publications on the identity of Anonymous while knowing all along.
Former White House press secretary, Dec Dec Myers, said Klein "looked his friends in the eye and he lied for money".
The money has come to £3,750,000 in royalties, so there is some jealousy among Klein's colleagues who feel exploited for the way they stirred up huge interest in the book by speculating about Anonymous.
Former Clinton political adviser, Paul Begala, whom Klein has attacked in his columns, says Klein is guilty of a "breathtaking act of mendacity".
It is recalled that Klein was one of the first influential journalists to support Clinton early in his campaign in 1992. But by 1994 he had turned against Clinton and in one article wrote that "he hasn't seemed personally trustworthy".
In his book, Governor Staunton alias Clinton, is portrayed as a highly sexed, charismatic figure whose character flaws are in conflict with his political ambitions. Now Klein is on the receiving end. President Clinton, incidentally, dropped a heavy hint at a recent press dinner that he knew Klein was the author.
A onetime Klein admirer, media critic of the New Yorker, Ken Auletta, is now angry "Joe fibbed and that's not acceptable. He not only hurts himself, he hurts journalism. It grants a weapon to the enemies of the press, the feeling that we're all seedy, slimy bums."
CBS is unhappy with the revelation. A senior executive says that even though Klein was only in a consultant role for the TV station "clearly it is impossible to have a relationship with someone who is not telling the truth".
The dean of American University's School of communications, Sandfor Ungar, says that "journalists are constantly measuring whether other people are telling the truth. I don't think a journalist has a higher right to lie about his work".
Klein says as a journalist there were times when "I had to lie to protect a source and I put this in that category". In other words he was protecting himself.
Klein defends remaining anonymous in his novel because he feared critic's would judge it on his reputation as a journalist and, also, he did not want to be embarrassed if it "bombed".
A former colleague of Klein says he wanted to be "found out". Early in the book, the coloured narrator says. "I am small and not so dark".
Prof Donald Foster, who did a computer analysis of Klein's columns and Primary Colours points out that "klein" means small in German so what he was saying in code was "I am Klein and I'm not really black".
Klein himself now says "Why would I want to get caught. Why would I want to go through this crap?"
Well there's the money, of course. And now there's the blockbuster film on the way starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson as Bill and Hillary again thinly disguised.
Some last words about what Anonymous has done to journalism. Kurt Andersen, editor of New York. "It makes people think they can't trust journalists."
James Carville, a Clinton political adviser who is prominent in Primary Colours. "Am I surprised that Joe Klein lied about writing this book? No, because, in my opinion, reporters lie all the time."