The Jon Keller Situation, Day 2

In case you missed it yesterday, the Herald accused WBZ political reporter (and sometime Boston Magazine contributor) Jon Keller of using direct quotes without attribution in his book, The Bluest State.

After the jump, Keller’s editor responds to the allegations.
Keller’s editor on the book, Michael Flamini, sent an e-mail to the Herald late yesterday:

Jon Keller’s The Bluest State is a political book written by a journalist for a trade audience. His book is based mainly on his years of reporting on the state and local governments of Massachusetts and its politicians, and includes coverage of public events and press conferences attended by many journalists. Jon Keller’s book is a lively and controversial work with a pointed thesis. The Bluest State is more akin to an op-ed piece than to a work of historical analysis or an academic treatise. It is unreasonable to expect extensive footnotes for each and every quote, or a lengthy bibliography. What’s more, references are made in the book’s index and throughout the text to quotes and facts reported in other newspapers, including the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe. Thus, Jon Keller discloses to his readers, throughout his book, that he has occasionally relied on others’ reporting (in addition to relying on his own prodigious reporting) when he sometimes includes quotes made by individuals or other facts previously reported.