Why has Apple picked her to be the source of planned leaks? John "clear skies" Martellaro tells of his time at Apple where he was instructed to do planned leaks and the purpose of such leaks:
Controlled leaks are almost always the solution to a problem. In this case, it could have been that Apple needed to release the tablet information early because they wanted:
to light a fire under a recalcitrant partner
to float the idea of the US$1,000 price point and gauge reaction
to panic/confuse a potential competitor about whom Apple had some knowledge
to whet analyst and observer expectations to make sure the right kind and number of people show up at the (presumed) January 26 event. Apple hates empty seats and demands SRO at