The New York Times, in Editors' Note, Finds Much to Fault in its
Iraq WMD Coverage

Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher Online

NEW YORK — After months of criticism of The New York Times' coverage of
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — mainly directed at star
reporter Judith Miller — the paper's editors, in an extraordinary
note to readers this morning, finally tackled the subject,
acknowledging it was "past time" they do so. Following the sudden
fall last week of Ahmad Chalabi, Miller's most famous source, they
probably had no choice.

While it does not, in some ways, go nearly far enough, and is buried
on Page A10, this low-key but scathing self-rebuke is nothing less
than a primer on how not to do journalism, particularly if you are an
enormously influential newspaper with a costly invasion of another
nation at stake.Today's critique is, in its own way, as devastating as last year's
front-page corrective on Jayson Blair, though not nearly as long.

Nowhere in it, however, does the name of Judith Miller appear. The
editors claim that the "problematic articles varied in authorship"
and point out that while critics have "focused blame on individual
reporters ... the problem was more complicated."

Yet, clearly, even in the Times' own view, Miller was the main
culprit, though they seem reluctant, or ashamed, to say so. This is
clear in analyzing today's critique. The editors single out six
articles as being especially unfortunate, and Judith Miller had a
hand in four of them: writing two on her own, co-authoring the other
two with Michael Gordon. The only two non-Miller pieces were the
earliest in the chronology, and they barely receive mention.

Starting nearly a year ago, E&P called on the Times to reassess
Miller's work, and renewed the call more often than any other
publication.

While refusing to name Miller, the Times' critique plainly and
persistently finds fault. In referring to one of the bogus Miller
pieces, the editors explain, "it looks as if we, along with the
administration, were taken in." Then, just as tellingly, they add:
"And until now we have not reported that to our readers."

The editors observe that Administration officials now acknowledge
"they sometimes fell for misinformation" from exile sources,
mentioning Chalabi as one. So, they note, did many news
organizations, adding, "in particular, this one," an amazing
admission.

Then consider this mea culpa: "Editors at several levels who should
have been challenging reporters and pressing for more skepticism were
perhaps too intent on rushing scoops into the paper. Accounts of
Iraqi defectors were not always weighed against their strong desire
to have Saddam Hussein ousted. Articles based on dire claims about
Iraq tended to get prominent display, while follow-up articles that
called the original ones into question were sometimes buried. In some
cases, there was no follow-up at all."

Yet nowhere does the Times suggest that it is penalizing any editors
or reporters in any way.

One of the false Miller and Gordon stories (touting the now-famous
"aluminum tubes") did contain a few qualifiers, but they were "buried
deep." When the pair followed up five days later they did report some
misgivings by others, but these too "appeared deep in the article."
When the Times finally gave "full voice" to skeptics the challenge
was reported on Page A 10, but "it might well have belonged on Page A
1."

Of course, the same could be said of their note today, which also
falls on Page A 10.

Another Miller article, from April 21, 2003, that featured an Iraqi
scientist (who later turned out to be an intelligence officer),
seemed to go out of its way to provide what the Times calls "the
justification the Americans had been seeking for the invasion." But
in hindsight there was just one problem: "The Times never followed up
on the veracity of this source or the attempts to verify his claims."

Yet the critique ends on a hopeful note: "We consider the story of
Iraq's weapons, and of the pattern of misinformation, to be
unfinished business. And we fully intend to continue aggressive
reporting aimed at setting the record straight."

The Times also directs readers to its Web site, where a special
section carries links to some of the disputed stories. Public Editor
Daniel Okrent now promises his own critique this Sunday.

Greg Mitchell is editor of Editor & Publisher.