From Columbia journalism review's campaign desk
http://www.campaigndesk.org/
Yesterday Brad Delong made Campaign Desk proud by picking up the telephone to question New York Times White House correspondent Elizabeth Bumiller about her coverage of the Bush administration's response to the Richard Clarke revelations. Specifically, Delong wanted to know about Vice President Dick Cheney's comment that Clarke was "out of the loop," which Condelezza Rice later denied. Delong felt Bumiller had offered readers "A simple 'she (Rice) said, he (Cheney) said': one-against-one, with no clues as to who is more credible." Delong asked Bumiller why she didn't stack the article with quotes to discredit Cheney's statement; Bumiller replied that she, "doesn't write opinion," that "the news was Rice contradicting what Cheney had said to Rush Limbaugh," and that she "only had 300 words."
Delong pressed on: "My assertion that whether Clarke was out-of-the-loop or was the loop itself is a matter of fact, and that a reporter has a duty to ascertain and to report to her readers such matters of fact, did not meet with a response." Perhaps Bumiller is angling for Scott McClellan's job?
