NYTimes Public Editor Calame - "Now Is the Time" --> Judith Miller

[understandinglife]

bcalame - 4:45 PM ET October 13, 2005 (#17 of 17)

Now Is the Time

The lifting of the contempt order against Judith Miller of The New York Times in connection with the Valerie Wilson leak investigation leaves no reason for the paper to avoid providing a full explanation of the situation. Now.

As public editor, I have been asking some basic questions of the key players at The Times since July 12. But they declined to fully respond to my fundamental questions because, they said, of the legal entanglements of Ms. Miller and the paper. With Ms. Miller in jail and the legal situation unclear, I felt it would be unfair to publicly castigate them for their caution.

At the same time, I decided my lack of information made it impossible to fairly evaluate for readers Ms. Miller’s refusal to identify confidential sources and how The Times was handling the matter. The absence of complete answers to my fundamental questions also prevented me from publicly rising to Ms. Miller’s defense, despite the initial burst of First Amendment fervor among some journalists supporting her.

But legal concerns should no longer rule the roost.

More at the link:

http://forums.nytimes.com/top/opinion/readersopinions/forums/thepubliceditor/publiceditorswebjournal/index.html

Way past time, but certainly no more excuses, unless ....


Peace.

[acmejack]

1. Time for some splainin

Judy... Truthfully this time, please!

[understandinglife]

2. What I am waiting to see is if Judy will answer questions from her ..

... NY Times reporter "colleagues."

In some correspondence with Mark Kleiman, I mentioned the following regarding the "mouse trap" theory:

Perhaps you will want to consider three aspects that are consistent with the "mouse trap" theory, Mark:

1. Judith Miller spent 75 min responding to every question with a 5th Amendment plea - he'd lift her contempt citation because she's headed to trial and he's more than willing to let her talk to reporters or whomever with the admonishment of really bad things to come if she makes any statements about anything he asked her that she used the 5th to shield herself from answering.

2. She did spend ~ 8 hours with him (and members of his staff), on Tuesday the 11th. If that produced a "script" of statements that he then went in front of the GJ, yesterday, and did the -- "You state, Ms Miller ....., true or false"; one could cover a bunch of territory in 75 min. It's not as if Fitzgerald and his team are just getting started in this investigation, so you can imagine they have some rather elaborate documentation that they could well have confronted Miller with on Tuesday (and, before -- i.e., we don't know if she has been spending time with Fitzgerald or/and his staff, at other times);

3. Someone(s) "rolled over" on Judith and he had her sit for 75 min, in front of the GJ, as he described to them exactly the sworn statement(s) he has obtained and basically asked Miller to confirm or deny. He'd have no reason to maintain her contempt citation at that point because she's going to be indicted for ..... (who knows how long the list could be).

Peace,

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5038953&mesg_id=5051908

One thing for sure, the balance of whatever credibility the 'old grey lady' has is on the line and the true-blue, tell-all Judy Miller story better be accurate and comprehensive.


Peace.

[TacticalPeek]

3. Kick.

:kick:

[understandinglife]

4. Jane Hamsher: "I'm still waiting for the straight poop from Pumpkinhead,

... and word has it we will all be treated to a delightful fiction from Judy herself tomorrow in the pages of the NYT if they can get them off the presses before they burst into flames.

http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/2005/10/whats-wrong-with-this-picture.html

Ouch x 2.


Peace.

[understandinglife]

5. Some interesting comments at dKos:

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/13/174825/90


Peace.

[understandinglife]

6. Arianna Huffington: Catch-22 at the New York Times

It's put up or shut up time at the paper of record.

Now that Judge Hogan has lifted Judy Miller's contempt citation, there is no reason for the Times to hold back on its promised full accounting of the Miller story.

Rarely has so much been riding on a single article.

<clip>

And that questioning has already begun, leading to the unspeakable being whispered among big media players. As one of them boldly asserted to me: "Mark my words, this will end with Sulzberger's resignation."

Much more at the link (some interesting comments, as well):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/catch22-at-the-new-y_b_8826.html

Yes.


Peace.

[understandinglife]

7. "A representative of Ms. Miller has indicated that she will talk to me ...

... at some point ... per Calame at:

http://forums.nytimes.com/top/opinion/readersopinions/forums/thepubliceditor/publiceditorswebjournal/index.html

Ponder that ... "at some point" ....


Peace.

[Straight Shooter]

8. AFAIC, they can all either sh*t or get off the pot, fish or cut bait.

We have a case of treason in the highest levels of government with complicity by not only a reporter but a whiff of aiding and abetting by one of the oldest established newspapers in the U.S.

Yet here they are, playing mind-f*ck games. I'm sick of it.

Rant off.

[WiseButAngrySara]

9. Recommended for fith vote...greatest page.

And :kick:

[Gregorian]

10. I'd like to know why Dan Rather and Marvin Kalb protested jailing Miller

I saw them both ponder the possibility of signing off the news each night with a statement about how wrong it was that Miller was in jail. This was only several weeks ago that I saw this during a discussion on Cspan.



edit- oops. spelling.

[rateyes]

11. To gain back any amount of credibility...

The Times ought to fire Judy Miller for her bogus reporting intended to lead this country into war.

[BamaBecky]

12. kick

[donkeyotay]

13. The NYTs, poster child for complicity

I hope we don't get so caught up in the satisfaction of seeing this administration finally held accountable that we forget that Bush's war could not have been achieved without media complicity. Restoring some measure of a free press is vital, and the current media willingness to criticize the administration may be nothing more than self-serving posturing that will not prevent future abuses.

[understandinglife]

16. " ... that we forget that Bush's war could not have been achieved without

.... media complicity.

Well, for sure you and I will do everything we can to make certain that doesn't happen. We'll probably find that we're in a large crowd of folk who think the same way.


Peace.

[Wordie]

14. Recommended (10=2stars). and I can't wait for the NYT write up on all this

I doubt any writer of fiction could have come up with a mystery this convoluted. Or at least, so it seems right now. Maybe it will all be explained someday.

[understandinglife]

15. Arianna Huffington: "Next thing you know, we'll hear that Calame's column

.... and Web Journal will only be available via TimesSelect, assuring that they will reach the smallest audience possible.

<clip>

But now that the "legal entanglements" have been unknotted, is Calame ready to have a full go at the paper's Judy-culpa?

Well, sort of.

He offers the less-than-reassuring news that "a representative of Ms. Miller has indicated she will talk to me at some point." A representative? After Judge Hogan lifted the contempt order on Miller, Bob Bennett said he was delighted that "Judy is now completely free to go about her great reporting as a very principled and honorable reporter." Since when does a principled and honorable reporter need a representative to deal with her paper's public editor -- especially a representative who will only "indicate" that Miller will talk "at some point"? This doesn't bode well.

<clip>

More at the link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/the-times-publi_b_8876.html

The 'old grey lady' is on life-support and Sulzberger & Co., are watching as Judy, oh so slowly, dials the O2 to zero ....


Peace.

[understandinglife]

17. Turley: "But we now have a play without any redeeming characters."

Defections from the Miller Camp?

by Peter Hart on October 14, 2005

Has Judith Miller lost another media defender? Legal pundit Jonathan Turley seemed to indicate that he's no longer in the "Defend Judy" camp on CNN this morning...


Link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-hart/defections-from-the-mille_b_8883.html

Funny - I've been suggesting Judy should get the "5th Amendment Award" for several months. Wonder how many more times she 'took the 5th' on Wed:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5038953&mesg_id=5051908


Peace.