Publisher: NYT Slow in Correcting Coverage

[Eugene]

Publisher: NYT Slow in Correcting Coverage

Friday October 28, 2005 6:31 PM

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN

Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said
Friday that the newspaper was far too slow in correcting its reports
indicating Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, but the
blame did not lie entirely with Judith Miller, the author of many of
the stories.

In a speech to the Online News Association, Sulzberger also defended
Miller's decision to go to jail to protect the identity of her source,
vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Miller was
released last month after agreeing to testify to the grand jury that
indicted Libby on Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, making
a false statement and perjury.

Sulzberger acknowledged the criticism of Miller, who in the wake of
her release from jail has been described on the pages of the Times as
untruthful to her editors and difficult to control.

"As the lawyers often say, not every case has a perfect fact
pattern," he said.

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More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5376718,00.html

It's not all Judith Miller's fault. It was an "institutional failure."