Hidden Scandal in Judith Miller Case and Reporting on WMD

Great additional piece in Ed and Publisher:

There is one enormous journalism scandal hidden in Judith Miller's Oct. 16th first person article about the (perhaps lesser) CIA leak scandal. And that is Ms. Miller's revelation that she was granted a DoD security clearance while embedded with the WMD search team in Iraq in 2003.This is as close as one can get to government licensing of journalists and the New York Times (if it knew) should never have allowed her to become so compromised. It is all the more puzzling that a reporter who as a matter of principle would sacrifice 85 days of her freedom to protect a source would so willingly agree to be officially muzzled and thereby deny potentially valuable information to the readers whose right to be informed she claims to value so highly.

Yes, boys and girls, this is a HUGE issue.

Judith Miller - and if the Times knew about it, they too - compromised everything that journalism is supposed to be to go on her little "I see WMD everywhere" mission to support the Bushies. SPJ should take back its goddamn journalism award they just handed her and shove it up her ass.