Byron Calame, the NY Times Public Editor, criticized last week for not writing about the Judith Miller mess, weighs in Sunday with a blistering attack on Miller. This comes on the heels of a Maureen Dowd column in Saturday's Times and Friday's aforementioned Bill Keller what-have-we-learned email.
If you want to get a ringside seat for the battle that is brewing within the Times' newsroom, read these three items.
The best from Dowd:
Sorely in need of a tight editorial leash, she was kept
on no leash at all, and that has hurt this paper and its
trust with readers. She more than earned her sobriquet
"Miss Run Amok."
[...]
Judy is refusing to answer a lot of questions put to her
by Times reporters, or show the notes that she shared
with the grand jury. I admire Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and
Bill Keller for aggressively backing reporters in the cross
hairs of a prosecutor. But before turning Judy's case into
a First Amendment battle, they should have nailed her
to a chair and extracted the entire story of her escapade.
Judy told The Times that she plans to write a book and
intends to return to the newsroom, hoping to cover "the
same thing I've always covered - threats to our country."
If that were to happen, the institution most in danger
would be the newspaper in your hands.
The best from Calame:
What does the future hold for Ms. Miller? She told me
Thursday that she hopes to return to the paper after
taking some time off. [Publisher Arthur] Sulzberger
offered this measured response: "She and I have
acknowledged that there are new limits on what she
can do next." It seems to me that whatever the limits
put on her, the problems facing her inside and outside
the newsroom will make it difficult for her to return to
the paper as a reporter.
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