'NY Times' Long-Awaited Judith Miller Story Appears, Raises Serious Questions, Reveals Newsroom Regrets

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/ea..._id=1001306690

By Greg Mtichell
Published: October 15, 2005 4:25 PM ET

NEW YORK Shortly after 4:00 pm on Saturday, The New York Times delivered its long-promised article probe of Judith Miler's involvement in the Plame case. It reveals many new details about her experience--and dissent at the newspaper about her role and the paper's handling of her.

Its dramatic lead reveals that in the same notebook that she belatedly turned over to the federal prosecutor last month, chronicling her July 8, 2003, interview with I. Lewis Libby, she wrote the name "Valerie Flame." She surely meant Valerie Plame but when she testified for a second time in the case this week, she could not recall who mentioned that name to her, the Times said. The said she "didn't think" she heard it from Libby, a longtime friend and source.

But her notes from her earlier talk with Libby, on June 23, 2003--belatedly turned over to the prosecutor last week--also "leave open the possibility" that Libby told her that former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife worked at the CIA, though perhaps not using the name "Plame."

Somewhat buried in the article is this note: "In two interviews, Ms. Miller generally would not disucss her interactions with editors, elaborate on the written accounts of her grand jury testimony or allow reporters to review her notes." Thus, the article appears to be less than the "full accounting" with full Miller cooperation that the editors promised.

Just as surprising, the article reveals that the Times' publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, and executive editor, Bill Keller, did not review her notes. Keller said he learned about the "Valerie Flame" notation only this month. Sulzberger knew nothing about it until told by his reporters on Thursday.

Meanwhile, newsroom leaders expressed frustration about the Times' coverage (or lack of) during the entire ordeal. Asked what she regretted about the paper's coverage, Jill Abramson, a managing editor, said: "The entire thing."

Accompanying the article is a first-person account by Miller herself, about her experience testifying before the grand jury.

The story says that Miller was a "divisive figure" in the newsroom and a "few colleagues refused to work with her."

Doug Frantz, former chief investigations editor at the paper, said that Miller called herself "Miss Run Amok," meaning, she siad. "I can do whatever I want."

For the first time, Miller, in today's article, admits, "WMD--I got it totally wrong."

The article reveals, also for the first time, that Keller took her off Iraq and weapons issues after he became editor in July 2003. Nevertheless, he admits, that "she kept drifting on her own back into the national security realm," making one wonder who was in charge of her.

One mystery the article may solve: Critics have long suggested that Miller was not even working on a story about the Joseph Wilson trip to Niger when she talked to Libby and others in 2003. But today's story reveals that she had been assigned to write a story about the failure to find WMDs in Iraq, but this was her beat so it's hard to understand why she would need an assignment. In any case, in talking to Libby on June 23, 2003, he wanted to talk about Wilson.