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Bill Keller's Staff Memo on Judy Miller

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Fri Oct 21, 2005 at 04:25:57 PM EST
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Crooks and Liars got a copy of the regret-laced memo Bill Keller of the New York Times sent out to his staff about Judy Miller.

I wish that when I learned Judy Miller had been subpoenaed as a witness in the leak investigation, I had sat her down for a thorough debriefing, and followed up with some reporting of my own. It is a natural and proper instinct to defend reporters when the government seeks to interfere in our work. And under other circumstances it might have been fine to entrust the details -- the substance of the confidential interviews, the notes -- to lawyers who would be handling the case.

But in this case I missed what should have been significant alarm bells. Until Fitzgerald came after her, I didn't know that Judy had been one of the reporters on the receiving end of the anti-Wilson whisper campaign. I should have wondered why I was learning this from the special counsel, a year after the fact. (In November of 2003 Phil Taubman tried to ascertain whether any of our correspondents had been offered similar leaks. As we reported last Sunday, Judy seems to have misled Phil Taubman about the extent of her involvement.) This alone should have been enough to make me probe deeper.

There's a lot more, and Firedoglake provides some analysis. The Associated Press has this article on the memo.

As I was reading it, a lyric kept popping through my head. "I wish I didn't know now things I didn't know then" (from Poison .)

But Mr. Keller should have known these things before. All he had to do was ask Judy Miller.

Update: Arianna weighs in:

I’m assuming that Judy Miller has written her last story for the New York Times.

Update: Bennett responds to the Washington Post.

< KS Court Strikes Down Law That Discriminates Against Gay Defendants | Launchdate for Campaign to Discredit Wilson >

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    Bill Keller's Staff Memo on Judy Miller | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Re: Bill Keller's Staff Memo on Judy Miller (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:13 PM EST
    Shorter Keller: I was born yesterday and Judith is the leader of all the cool kidz.

    Re: Bill Keller's Staff Memo on Judy Miller (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:15 PM EST
    Oh me, oh my, we were misled. Misled? Um, COWS are misled; one of the (formerly) best newspapers in the world is not merely "misled" without being willingly so. What utter, unadulterated HORSESH@T!!!!! I never thought I'd say this but the NYT has just become a yellow rag. Heads better friggin role over this major f*%k up. And I'd start with Keller's head, front and center, followed in rapid succession by Miller and the other Washington-sycophants that allowed this outrage to occur. NYT, admit it: you wuz snookered! And it makes you look soooooo fourth rate!

    Re: Bill Keller's Staff Memo on Judy Miller (none / 0) (#3)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:15 PM EST
    What seems clear it that Miller would have never been able to be Miss Run Amok without unwavering and personal support from Sulzberger. He will have to step down before the NYT can begin to regain the trust of its readers. Oh, and Judy is out already.

    Re: Bill Keller's Staff Memo on Judy Miller (none / 0) (#4)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:15 PM EST
    I sense a Donald Trump moment approaching.

    Re: Bill Keller's Staff Memo on Judy Miller (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:15 PM EST
    Well, gee. Instead of a staff memo, how about just a quick note to Judy herself? "Clear out your desk and don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out." This would have told the staff everything they needed to know much more eloquently and efficiently than this lengthy--and impotent--mea culpa.

    Re: Bill Keller's Staff Memo on Judy Miller (none / 0) (#6)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:16 PM EST
    Dowd does a slam dunk on Miller entitled Woman of Mass Destruction. Miller's nickname Judith 'Is that a banana in your pocket....?' Miller is refined by mentioning it in terms of "her tropism toward powerful men" and she suggests that Sulzberger Jr and Keller should have taken Miss Run Amok "nailed her to a chair and extracted the entire story of her escapade" before she got into the cagey position where "one wonders whether her stint in the Alexandria jail was in part a career rehabilitation project". Miller is clearly toast, burnt toast, at the NYT. Oh, BTW Dowd claims to like Judy, as she "enjoys operatic types." As atrios puts it "......Gilliard runs it through his unique translation device." Gosh, I even broke down and bought a copy of the NYT to support its impending, er...restructuring. Perhaps I will even start up my subscription again as I cancelled it when Miller first hijacked the front page with State Department propaganda.

    Bill Keller's Staff Memo on Judy Miller | 6 comments (6 topical)