Partridge
11-09-2005, 11:10 PM
CIA leak probe reporter resigns
BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4423422.stm)
The New York Times reporter who went to jail for refusing to reveal her sources in a CIA leak inquiry has retired from her job, the newspaper has announced. Judith Miller, 57, spent 85 days in prison over the summer before agreeing to give evidence to a grand jury.
The Times initially backed her, but colleagues later painted her as a rogue reporter and divisive newsroom figure.
The paper, with whom she worked for 28 years, agreed to publish her letter to the editor defending her position.
In a statement, Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr said: "We are grateful to Judy for her significant personal sacrifice to defend an important journalistic principle.
"I respect her decision to retire from The Times and wish her well," he added.
Colleagues' criticism
During her career at the Times, Ms Miller was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for their reporting on global terrorism.
But her reporting on the issue of weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the war in Iraq was later heavily criticised when no such weapons emerged.
She initially received strong backing from the Times over her decision not to reveal her source to a grand jury inquiry into the leaking of a CIA agent's name.
But that level of support was later questioned by her own colleagues and bosses amid suggestions she had been less than candid with the newspaper about her source, the now-indicted I Lewis Libby, former chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney.
Following her release from jail in September, The Times published a lengthy front-page article by three of its journalists heavily criticising Ms Miller.
Columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a piece entitled "Woman of Mass Destruction", saying: "She never knew when to quit. That was her talent and her flaw."
In her letter, to be published on Thursday, Ms Miller said she was leaving partly because some of her colleagues had disagreed with her decision to testify in the CIA leak case.
"But mainly, I have chosen to resign because over the last few months, I have become the news, something a New York Times reporter never wants to be," she wrote.
BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4423422.stm)
The New York Times reporter who went to jail for refusing to reveal her sources in a CIA leak inquiry has retired from her job, the newspaper has announced. Judith Miller, 57, spent 85 days in prison over the summer before agreeing to give evidence to a grand jury.
The Times initially backed her, but colleagues later painted her as a rogue reporter and divisive newsroom figure.
The paper, with whom she worked for 28 years, agreed to publish her letter to the editor defending her position.
In a statement, Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr said: "We are grateful to Judy for her significant personal sacrifice to defend an important journalistic principle.
"I respect her decision to retire from The Times and wish her well," he added.
Colleagues' criticism
During her career at the Times, Ms Miller was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for their reporting on global terrorism.
But her reporting on the issue of weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the war in Iraq was later heavily criticised when no such weapons emerged.
She initially received strong backing from the Times over her decision not to reveal her source to a grand jury inquiry into the leaking of a CIA agent's name.
But that level of support was later questioned by her own colleagues and bosses amid suggestions she had been less than candid with the newspaper about her source, the now-indicted I Lewis Libby, former chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney.
Following her release from jail in September, The Times published a lengthy front-page article by three of its journalists heavily criticising Ms Miller.
Columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a piece entitled "Woman of Mass Destruction", saying: "She never knew when to quit. That was her talent and her flaw."
In her letter, to be published on Thursday, Ms Miller said she was leaving partly because some of her colleagues had disagreed with her decision to testify in the CIA leak case.
"But mainly, I have chosen to resign because over the last few months, I have become the news, something a New York Times reporter never wants to be," she wrote.