NYT Public Editor: Hiring Kristol "A Mistake"

When we broke the news that Bill Kristol would be joining the editorial pages of the New York TImes as a regular contributor, we called it "a move bound to create controversy." After a mistake-laden first effort, now the New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt has delivered his verdict: "[NYT Publisher] Sulzberger and [editorial page editor] Rosenthal made a mistake." Hoyt's reasoning:

On Fox News Sunday on June 25, 2006, Kristol said, "I think the attorney general has an absolute obligation to consider prosecution" of The New York Times for publishing an article that revealed a classified government program to sift the international banking transactions of thousands of Americans in a search for terrorists.

Publication of the article was controversial -- my predecessor as public editor first supported it and then changed his mind -- but Kristol's leap to prosecution smacked of intimidation and disregard for both the First Amendment and the role of a free press in monitoring a government that has a long history of throwing the cloak of national security and classification over its activities. This is not a person I would have rewarded with a regular spot in front of arguably the most elite audience in the nation.

Read Hoyt's entire argument here.

Comments

[Patrician]

Kristo1, like Karl Rove, may have a "mischief maker" impulse. I feel he will try to bring down the best paper in the country by constantly suggesting someone sue it, etc. The NY Times needs the right wing point of view in its "marketplace of ideas," but not someone whose whole attitude is opposed not only to ideas from the center or left, but would also very likely try to undermine the NY Times. The country--and perhaps the world--needs the NY Times.

[Bobleblah1]

Thank God I don't read the New York Times.
The Judith Miller conspiracy was truly the last straw for me. I decided then and there that I was done with the NYT. (Jason Blair?)

This paper has no integrity what so ever.

War mongering the build up to the Iraq invasion and relentless "fake liberalism", that serves only to distract and propagandize those who think of themselves as intellectual.
Breeders of reflexive mindlessness.

As they say, the NYT is persona non grata. The best part of that decision is that I am more informed now than I ever was from reading the New York Times.

Have fun reading Kristol the weasel.

[yoadrie]

Yeah, but is the Times going to turn that "reasoning" into a "firing?"

[blueshift]

harold raines - jayson blair - judith miller. I'm afraid kristol is no abberation. a 'kristolized' ny times is another point that clearly plots the downward trend of this former flagship of journalistic responsibility.

I have canceled my subscription, and blocked their domain at my firewall.

The New York Times is dead to me. I mourn its passing.

[dailyrev]

As I point out in more detail here http://dailyrevolution.net/?p=10033], the public editor was doing damage control for his employer. Hoyt's piece is loaded with spin and falsehood, not the boldly critical thing you'd imagine from the word-bite here.

[dotbed1]

It is quite strange that OBAMA was ahead in the polls until something strange happened with the numbers . All of a sudden Hillary was ahead . Ray Charles can see through that and he is not only dead but , was blind . The votes should be recounted and reported fairly , now.The american people will not tolerate hanky-panky this election .

[dotbed1]

That MICA over on MSNBC is not a good journalist . She insists on keeping this so-called fued between the Clintons and the press going . Thank God Obama has risen above the frey and has not gotten in the middle of this madness . Many in the media are so petty. They go too far trying to push the outcome of elections . They even go so far as telling us who they think should win . Why is she being allowed to push Huckabee , this is not what she should be doing.Like in NH , if the media had shut up the outcome would have been whatever it was and nothing else would have been said

[dotbed1]

Why would anyone in their right mind give BILL KRISTOL a job ? Everyone knows full well that ha and the others over at FOX are all far right wing and BILL is one of the neo-cons . Come on people it appears that those in power think the american people are stupid . We get it .

[grommyko]

I no longer subscribe or read the nyt anymore. At least not since the 2000 elections. NYT hiring Kristol I think they get what they pay for.

[rkx13]

Even the most inexpensive little computer has a recycle bin for deleting errors, mistakes and bad ideas..
What this country needs in a giant delete bucket for screw-ups and mistakes. You could prime the bucket with Rove, De Lay, Podhoretz, Abramoff, Pearl, Norquist, Rush, Kristol and Bush/Cheney. These people have voluntarily abandoned The Constitution of the United States, they have decided to leave the group “we the people”And the least we should do is to close the door behind them so they never to inflict additional damage on this country .
Without the delete process any computer will stall and fail , it is just a matter of time.

[BlackWidowPilot]

Yet one more reason why I do NOT read the NYT. Just further proof of the moral bankruptcy and intellectual dishonesty of the corporate press...

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[BernieO]

People should just refuse to read Kristol's column. The Times tracks "most read" and "most emailed" every day. If he is not getting readers, they will drop him. Ditto for Maureen Dowd who spends her time trashing everyone. You may have liked her take on Bush, but she was one of the worst offenders against Gore and went easy on Bush in 2000. She also trashed Kerrey. She is so widely read she was a big factor in distracting the public from serious issues by trivializing the coverage of these two capable candidates. She'll do it again this time, too.

[SonnyBono]

So hiring Billy was a mistake???

No s**t, Sherlock and what was the invasion of Iraq - you remember, the one that you geniuses at the Times were all in favor of???

[jubo]

Nonetheless I canceled my subscription and am now used to bypassing the Times. Hope this is the case for many.

Bad time to have an identity crisis.

[whatsreallygoingonhere]

NYT Public Editor: Hiring Kristol "A Mistake"

Really? Ya think so? Duh!

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

If I ever get another puppy I may use it for paper training. It really is a good size for that. Years ago I couldn't read it fast enough when our puppy was paper training but that was a long time ago. Of course I wouldn't buy it, I'd just pick it up on the bus or subway...I always see plenty of them lying around.

Other than that, what a waste of trees!