@Steve. I often see articles that one person or another has refused to comment. Whilst the search on "A senior executive of the company refused to comment" indeed produced no results a search on "executive refused to comment" produces quite a few. The point is that there are many examples of this type of journalism, sometimes deliberate and sometimes in error. It happens on all media but I think television and to a lesser extent radio are worse than print, though it is far too common. For critical analysis in Australia we have:
For the left wing perspective, Australia's self proclaimed leading forum for media analysis and content:
ABC Media Watch
If you prefer a right-wing slant we have Gerard Henderson's highly satirical Media Watchdog:
Media Watch Dog
Both are replete with examples of shocking and too often deliberately misleading journalism. I should add that, like Politicians, there are some good ones who try to do the right thing. But Journalists now rank towards the bottom of the scale where public trust is concerned. This article from the UK seems to be fairly typical of such survey results:
Trust Me I'm a Journalist
I find this very sad as a free press is vital to a free society. I have no opinion on Bob Woodward's book as I haven't yet read it. My default approach to the work of Journalist's these days is extreme scepticism.