October 17, 2005
Is Cronyism and Failure of Leadership Plaguing The Times?
William E. Jackson, Jr, who "writes a column on the press and national security for "Editor & Publisher Online, made this revealing observation at The Huffington Post in an article headlined "The Satrapy at West 43rd: One Armchair Critic's Disillusionment On The Eve of Full Disclosure: The Times has been my daily companion for half a century, as I studied, taught, and practiced politics and foreign policy. Anyone who knows me would testify that I have been a proselytizer for the Gray Lady out in the country where I grew up, as a college prof requiring my students to read it, and as a government official who relied upon it for "first draft" reporting on the events of our time. I often leaked scoops to its reporters, from Washington to Moscow to Johannesburg. I read and drew inspiration from Harrison Salisbury's "Without Fear or Favor;" Gay Talese's "The Kingdom and the Power;" David Halberstam's "The Powers That Be;" and Max Frankel's "The Times of My Life and My Life with The Times."
But, alas, this premier news outlet for America and the world appears to be going up in the flames of cronyism with a corresponding failure of leadership. I make no apologies for my strong indictment on the eve of the full story that Bill Keller has promised--no matter what his able reporters and editors may weigh in with after two-plus years.Reading Jackson's piece reminds me of my relationship with The Times. I've read each of the books he mentions above. I've also read William Proctor's "The Gospel According to The New York Times".
In addition, I read Howell Raines' "My Soul Is Rested: Movement Days in the Deep South Remembered." This book convinced me that covering the civilrights movement was like covering a revolution in a foreign country.
Then there was Richard F. Shepard's "The Paper's Paper: A Reporter's Journey Through the Archives of The New York Times." As I read this book, I felt as if I were digging through The Times archives.
In addition to being a serious student of the history of The Times, I've read the paper for at least five days a week since the 1970s. Salim Muwakkil at In These Times convinced me that I should. We worked together at Muhammad Speaks newspaper in Chicago, at the time. I've been hooked on The Times ever since.
Of course, I didn't buy everything in The Times. I often felt that some of its reporters were either CIA agents or CIA assets. They often seemed too cozy with the intelligence community, just as Judy Miller is a bit too cozy with certain officials in the Bush Administration. But what truly made me suspicious of the The Times longstanding ties with the CIA was its participation in what Jeff Cohen, founder of FAIR, called the "triple-barreled attack" on the late San Jose Mercury News reporter Gary Webb. The Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times vehemently attacked Webb's Dark Alliance series in the Mercury News, which argued that the CIA helped initiate the crack epidemic in Los Angeles during the 1980s to fund the Contras in Nicaragua.
Before this, I had never heard of major newspapers turning on a fellow reporter with such vehemence. But thanks to the Internet, The Times and its partners in the Webb credibility assassination can never erase what Webb wrote. Nor can Judy Miller escape from what she wrote about so-called Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Nor can any of us avoid what we've posted online. Whereas Frank Wisner, former director of the CIA's Office of Special Projects, use to boast about cranking up the "Mighty Wurlitzer" to spread CIA propaganda, now the average citizen, thanks to the Internet, can challenge the Mighty Wurlitzer, of which The Times is a part, if he or she chooses to do so.
More specifically, The Times and other establishment papers took part directly or indirectly in "Operation Mockingbird," a CIA operation that, as noted in Wikipedia, was set up "to influence domestic and foreign media." It was "discovered during the Church Committee investigation in 1975."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 02:33 AM | Comments (0)
Judith Miller May Be History at The New York Times
After reading "The Miller Case: A Notebook, a Cause, a Jail Cell and a Deal" and Judith Miller's "My Four Hours Testifying in the Federal Grand Jury Room" on The New York Times website, I concluded that Judith Miller is history at The New York Times. Why? It was the following paragraphs from "The Miller Case..."On Tuesday, Ms. Miller is to receive a First Amendment award from the Society of Professional Journalists. She said she thought she would write a book about her experiences in the leak case, although she added that she did not yet have a book deal. She also plans on taking some time off but says she hopes to return to the newsroom.
She said she hopes to cover "the same thing I've always covered - threats to our country."
The Times incurred millions of dollars in legal fees in Ms. Miller's case. It limited its own ability to cover aspects of one of the biggest scandals of the day. Even as the paper asked for the public's support, it was unable to answer its questions.This conclusion is reinforced by John Byrne and Jason Leopold at Raw Story. They said in an October 14, 2005 article that "Miller, who spent 85 days in jail protecting her source in the recent CIA leak investigation, will take an indefinite leave of absence effective immediately."
"Judy is going to take some time off until we decide what she is doing next," they said Times' spokesperson Catherine Mathis told RAW STORY Saturday afternoon.
"RAW STORY spoke with Miller by telephone at the New York Times newsroom in Washington Friday evening. She said that she had not previously been questioned about her plans going forward, and deferred extended comment to her publicist."
Publisher Arthur Sutlzberger and Executive Editor Bill Keller are asking for trouble if Miller, who seems to have had free-reign, is allowed to return. Morale is bad enough. Judy in the newsroom will only compound The Times problems.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 02:27 AM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2005
Chrenkoff's Interview With Editor's Of Ya Libnan
On June 17, 2005, Arthur Chrenkoff, proprietor of the blog Chrenkoff, published an interview with the editors of Ya Libnan, who asked to remain anonymous. The interview is quite good. Here is the Chrenkoff version. Also see Ya Libnan's version.
The Lebanese publication "was originally created to capture the historic events that erupted as a result of the assassination of the former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 09, 2005
Wall Street Journal's Asia, Europe Editions Going Tabloid
"The Wall Street Journal, moving to curb losses and attract new readers to its international editions, confirmed Sunday [May 8, 2005] that it planned to shift its Asian and European editions from broadsheet to tabloid format effective October 17. 2005," according to Top Tech News. Those publications are The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Asian Wall Street Journal. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 16, 2005
Cobban: IWPR's Iraq Projects Are in 'Real Trouble.'
Helena Cobban at Just World News noted in an April 16, 2005 post that, "The Institute for War & Peace Reporting's (link added) Iraq projects have sadly been in real trouble recently." She added: I don't know if all their good participants and trainees got snapped up to work for deep-pocket western media people? If so, that's a real shame, because the project, which produces articles in Arabic and Kurdish editions as well as in English, has always looked poised to make a serious contribution to the development of independent journalism inside Iraq.
However, Ms. Cobban said, "their projects in the Balkans have been continuing in great shape." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 04:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 02, 2005
Latest Issue of Syria Today Posted to Web
The latest edition of Syria Today has been posted on the web. As Joshua Landis at Syria Comment notes, "This is the third issue of the new Magazine put out in Syria in English."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 27, 2005
WSJ: 'White House Press Room as Political Stage'
Christopher Cooper and John D. McKinnon, writing in the February 25, 2005 edition of The Wall Street Journal, said "the power of the presidency has always attracted offbeat characters to the White House briefing room." They opined:
But the trend accelerated in the late 1990s, when cable outlets like C-SPAN began broadcasting the White House briefing in its entirety. That has drawn more fringe journalists seeking a forum to voice their points of view. The trend has been further fueled in recent years by the rise of alternative media, Internet news sites and Web logs that have given just about everyone who wants it a platform for punditry.They said "the result is that 'the entire nature of the briefing has changed,' says former Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart. 'It's become a show.'" Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 10, 2005
The Diplomatic Times Review Welcomes Korrespodenterna
The Periscope introduced Korrespodenterna, which provide "freelance coverage of Brussels affairs for Sweden and Skandinavia," in a February 9, 2005 post. "Korrespondenterna is a new independent agency operating at the heart of the EU," The Periscope said.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
