SHE MADE HER (EM)BED: Judith Miller can't catch a break. Just one week after the New York Times reporter was the subject of a thinly veiled swipe by its public editor, Daniel Okrent, The New York Review of Books has chimed in. In an 8,420-word piece called "Now They Tell Us," written by Michael Massing, Miller, among others, is criticized for being one of the many "U.S. journalists who were far too reliant on sources sympathetic to the administration."
Going after Miller for her weapons of mass destruction reporting and her connections to Iraqi dissident Ahmed Chalabi is nothing new. As the piece points out, The Times reporter has been the "subject of harsh criticism in Slate, The Nation, Editor & Publisher, The American Journalism Review and the Columbia Journalism Review."
But there's one thing that differentiates the NYROB from the others: Miller is married to Jason Epstein, a founder of the NYROB who still writes for it occasionally. And the Review's co-editor happens to be Barbara Epstein, his ex-wife.
Of course, no one really expected that the biweekly would interfere with a critic's work on such an important topic.
"They're pretty honorable, how could they dare censor it?" pointed out one industry observer. But the daisy chain effect was amusing to some. "She's married to Epstein, whose ex-wife runs the publication [that's critiquing her]," said another.
Miller said the biggest problem was the piece itself. Speaking of her husband, she said he no longer has a managerial role at the title before adding, "If you'd like his view you should talk to him about it. We're independent agents. Obviously I disagree with Massing's description of The Times' coverage. I think it's biased and unfair and I think The Times did an excellent job of presenting different perspectives under very difficult circumstances, [i.e , classified information]."
Miller also said she'd been "misquoted and misrepresented" in the piece and that a letter has been sent. It has not yet arrived at the Book Review, though, said Barbara Epstein.
As for Jason Epstein, he said, "I can't discuss that," and hung up the phone. - J.B.