It's Miller time

The Washington Post has a great interview with newly-ex New York Times reporter Judith Miller which sheds a lot of light on her character, including extensive quotes from Miller herself, her friends and fellow NYT staffers past and present -- some effusive in their praise, others highly critical. The picture the article paints is a fair one and draws the reader into the middle of the two, extreme perceptions of Miller that have been thrown out by the media since the Valerie Plame scandal erupted. The first is that of Miller as journalistic martyr sworn to protect the First Amendment with cape billowing in the wind. The other paints Miller as an attention-hungry harpy that is less reporter and more shrill seductress slithering through sources and the legal system to mislead the nation about WMD, the war in Iraq and the truth behind the Valerie Plame affair.

The end result is a manic, insecure and energetic woman that is desperate to remain in the public eye. As the story points out, Miller kept a detailed "jail journal" on the off chance she could score a book deal. And despite numerous awards (Pulitzer, Emmy, DuPont), found her work edited for bias on numerous occasions by the Times editorial desk. She was fervent in her pursuit of "the great story," but equally questionable in how she got there (I still think "entanglement" is the right way to describe her relationship with Scooter). But, like I said, it's not a black and white situation. I suggest giving the story a read and forming your own conclusions.