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  Judith Miller: Julian Assange is a ‘bad journalist’
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  Judith Miller: Julian Assange is a ‘bad journalist’ - On Media: Judith Miller: Julian Assange is a ‘bad journalist’
  January 03, 2011
  Categories:
  Fox News
  Judith Miller: Julian Assange is a ‘bad journalist’
  During a Fox News panel on Saturday, Judith Miller, going by her more casual Fox News contributor moniker “Judy,” played media critic.
  When Fox’s Jon Scott asked her whether WikiLeaks is “the new journalism,” she replied: “Yes. It’s part of the new journalism and everybody has to get used to it. If you have that much information, much of which is overclassified — if the location of the wastebasket in an office is classified — someone’s going to leak it. Julian Assange may be a bad journalist, but he is a journalist.”
  When asked why Assange was a bad journalist, she said, “because he didn’t care at all about attempting to verify the information that he was putting out, or determine whether or not it would hurt anyone.”
  Some of Miller’s critics, who still fault her New York Times reporting on the run-up to the Iraq war for helping push the country toward war based on bad intelligence, found this a bit rich.
  As Crooks and Liars, which first pulled the clip, points out, Miller has defended her reporting, saying, “"[M]y job isn't to assess the government's information and be an independent intelligence analyst myself. My job is to tell readers of The New York Times what the government thought about Iraq's arsenal."
  (Hat tip: Gawker)
  Posted by Keach Hagey 11:59 AM
  Tags:
  Fox News,
  Judith Miller,
  Julian Assange,
  New York Times,
  Wikileaks
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  1
  Keach just can't help his liberal self. Awww!
  Posted By: Keach just can't help his liberal self. Awww! | January 03, 2011 at 12:27 PM
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  Being Liberal is great. It's being stupid that sucks. Unfortunately, most of US is being fed on stupid Fox news.
  Posted By: Being Liberal is great. | January 03, 2011 at 01:04 PM
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  Pot, meet kettle. You know more about reportng without verification and blowing CIA operations than most.
  Posted By: Redleg | January 03, 2011 at 01:07 PM
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  Judith Miller is correct about Assange being a "bad journalist" for simply dumping leaked information without doing research or checking whose life might have been endangered. However, her "Bush insider" leaks (later quoted by Cheney, et al, on Sunday TV news as if it were an independent investigation) passed along the Bush-Cheney multitude of lies used to justify the needless Iraq invasion, the trillions in present and future debt and thousands of American and Iraqi lives lost. In the end, her NYTimes fiasco has proven to be far more dangerous and harmful than anything WikiLeaks has come up with so far.
  Posted By: Thomas Hall | January 03, 2011 at 01:49 PM
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  Pathetic! Assange is a good journalist an honest journalist, something we dont see any more. He doesnt work for the goverment nor is his license dependent on some backgorund powerhouse who wants to manipulate the news feed for the masses. Fox news is clearly biased.
  Posted By: Guest | January 03, 2011 at 01:58 PM
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  Amazing! From a woman who helped start a war! To criticize Assange because he didn't determine whether it would hurt anybody. And then . . . omigod . . .to attack him for not VERIFYING, when all these cables (leaked not by him but by a soldier, apparently) were pretty much as written. From JUDITH MILLER, who passed on admin lies about MWD without checking the facts. Folks, this is chutzpah!
  Posted By: sci57 | January 03, 2011 at 02:18 PM
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  As soon as Assange releases information that is damaging to Obama or the Democrats, he'll be vilified.
  Posted By: As soon as Assange releases information that is damaging to Obama or the Democrats, he'll be vilifie | January 03, 2011 at 02:28 PM
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  Sorry Ms. Miller- but you're using old school definitions for new school realities. Convenient for your defense but misleading in debate. Assange is not a 'journalist', he's not even a 'blogger'- he does not author content, he distributes it. The coverage or 'journalism' happens after the fact. The tag that most identifies Assange is 'internet publisher.' Your role as a traditional journalist does require fact checking and background research. Both of which are a staple in mainstream journalist practice. In the least your 'reporting' should have noted the alternative voices to the government policies regarding WMD at the time. Unless of course if you choose to reclassify yourself as a mere 'publisher' of other peoples information.
  Posted By: Mr. Murrow | January 03, 2011 at 02:37 PM
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  How ironic that a right wing traitor opens her frothing yap and accuses the wonderful volunteer organization that's defending *her* Democratic rights is some how not a legitimate journalist or causing harm some how. Miller should pack her bags and move to Iran since her hatred of Democracy is more in line with that government's ideals. For the rest of the world, Democracy *requires* transparency to work properly.
  Posted By: Fredric L. Rice | January 03, 2011 at 02:57 PM
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  The fall of Assange won't be pretty.
  Posted By: The fall of Assange won't be pretty. | January 03, 2011 at 03:38 PM
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  Judith "WMD" Miller, It's wasn't your job to question whether or not the Bush administration was factual? Then when will Fox News stop questioning everything President Obama does?
  Posted By: Left in the south | January 03, 2011 at 03:40 PM
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  "Judy" Miller would certainly know a bad journalist when she sees one. I don't disagree with her contention: Assange presents data with minimal or distorted context, without seeking verification. Which is, more or less, her practice while at the NYT.
  Posted By: Tommy | January 03, 2011 at 03:48 PM
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  I would not say that there is anything common in Keach or Assange, except that on both ocassion it was called a leak. Keach was writing for NYT, Assange just presented plain information. He presented context - US embassy cables. That they are wrong are actually part of message - part of message on how much GWB people was unrealistic, or what was the level of stupidty, confusion, manipulation, or correctness within GWB administration. He provided data, we know and must search for other context. Also, outlets like Guardian are doing this job, he is just source.
  Posted By: Teltek | January 03, 2011 at 04:30 PM
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  While working for the New York Times, Judith Miller was often criticized for not verifying her own stories. She wrote several of the key articles that claimed that Iraq had an extensive weapons of mass destruction program ahead of the Iraq invasion. She once stated: "My job is not to assess the government's information and be an independent intelligence analyst myself. My job is to tell readers of the New York Times what the government thought about Iraq's arsenal." So who's the bad journalist? Certainly not Wikileaks. They are one of the few sources of news that is accurate. And this scares those who want you to believe otherwise.
  Posted By: Elizabeth Faraone | January 03, 2011 at 05:33 PM
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  Sounds like he is qualified to work for the NYTimes or the Washington Post.
  Posted By: Peru1 | January 03, 2011 at 07:04 PM
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  The majority of people who work for Fox News are poor journalists. In fact, who there has a journalism degree or understands a journalist's code of ethics? About Assange ... he's a much better-recognized and more resourceful than Ms. Miller.He's a big link to the truth about U.S. wars.
  Posted By: Jay B. Born | January 03, 2011 at 07:40 PM
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  Judith Miller is a Journalist and a very good one. Assange is not. What is the persistance in saying he is? What is his track record? If merely posting information to a website is the basis for the title then it is truly a very sorry state of affairs. Any Journalist will refute his qualification for the title but sadly with the internet everyone is now a journalist. There are however certain standards and qualifications that many posting comments here fail to realise because sadly they are not journalists either. Maybe when you have broken and covered as many stories as Judith Miller then you can criticize her but sadly these postings by and large in their attack on her qualifications show a typical cry baby tactic by the Assange choir and thank the big man that you are loosing your voices. People are becoming sick of the Assange song. Must say suprised to see Assange wearing a Father Christmas outfit, thought the upstart was an atheist...never miss a photo op.
  Posted By: Faustina | January 03, 2011 at 08:02 PM
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  For better news reporting, watch Democracy Now! The main stream TV news programs and the main stream newspapers are all corrupt. Find alternative sources. They've always been out there, and they're easier to find now more than ever. And to those of you who are afraid of the impact FOX news and the like have on the general public, don't worry. This tyranny will not last much longer. The truth will continue to be revealed by real reporting.
  Posted By: Elizabeth Faraone | January 03, 2011 at 09:26 PM
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  Kübler-Ross model stages of grief applied to Judith Miller: 1) Denial - Assange is not a Journalist. 2) Anger-Assange should be arrested 3) Bargaining-Assange is a Journalist, but a bad one. 4)Depression-There is nothing we can do about Assange. 5)Acceptance-I want to have sex with Assange.
  Posted By: 4r9ud3w | January 04, 2011 at 01:10 AM
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  She's got so much blood on her hands for enabling the Iraq WMD massacres, it's no wonder she doesn't like the evidence getting out. Lock her up too when you do the Bush monster.
  Posted By: rick | January 04, 2011 at 01:52 AM
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  This must be a joke. Judith "Iraq has WDM" Miller. No wonder your Country is failing terrible. You listen to IDIOTS who are self-described experts. We all know Ms. Millers Expertise. She makes Monica Lewinsky appear amateurish. People are your minds that fried on glue. when are you going to wake up......
  Posted By: Varga | January 04, 2011 at 02:22 AM
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  It's nice to see Judith Miller back on the scene lying her ass off again.
  Posted By: Gareth | January 04, 2011 at 11:13 AM
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  Judith Miller is a member of the Fifth Column in the US. What a shame that someone who does not feel a thing for this country, is allowed to be in the media and contributes to spreading the cancer in our society. We should not even consider her opinion....
  Posted By: Herzog | January 04, 2011 at 04:53 PM
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  Julian Assange is most heroic journalist to come along in several generations. He is a reminder of what a true journalistic leader looks and sounds like. ColeSmithey.com
  Posted By: Cole Smithey | January 04, 2011 at 06:17 PM
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  I suggest, if it can ever be published by a news entity, if they understand these words, that the existence of "secret" information, held by a government that is formally acknowledged as a government of the people, by the people and for the people, is flawless proof that not one American journalist knows how to ask any government personnel an effective question. Respectfully, DougBuchanan.com