Where Credit Is Due

Close. You used the "conspiracy" straw man to attack liberals.

"Of course! It all makes perfect conspiratorial sense!

Except for one thing: in this case some liberals are seeing broad partisan conspiracies where none likely exist."

It was a truly well done piece of work. Marshall showed off some impressive instinct with this one.

I wonder if this story might also be turning into a good launching point for a long-overdue, large-scale journalistic investigation of this administration's possible election tampering.

Jay, a little advice for the next year and a half, though I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet:
When it comes to the Bush Administration, assume the worst. It saves time.

I'll just give you Molly Ivins' advice for beginning political reporters one more time: Look at the record, look at the record, then look at the record again.

You're welcom.

Now, are you going to learn something from this, Mr. Carney, or can we expect to see you back in your accustomed role of apologist for the Republicans when the next scandal breaks?

jay -- the problem is the astonishing gullibility/deference of you people who cover the white house. how can your first instinct -- at this late date -- not be suspicion at the motives of everything these lying, thieving, cowards do.

but, props to you for at least acknowledging josh and one of the best blogs out there.

Good for you, Jay, on giving credit where credit is due. I think you've taken a good step forward. Next time a story like this breaks, maybe you should call different Democrats for their opinion?

Now that wasn't so hard, was it?

I don't understand why people still seem to want to give the administration the benefit of the doubt. Its record speaks for itself.

Anyway, I'm glad to see that you were mature enough to write this. Sadly, we haven't seen enough accountability.

And yes, Josh Marshall deserves a big hand for all the hard work. He has kept after the story from the beginning.

Where have the media been? :(

Jay,
Absolutley EVERYTHING this administration does is POLITICAL. I don't know why this is a surprise to you.

The thing that I am so disapointed in you (and other journalists) is that after 6 years of the bush administration you lack the killer instinct.

Scooter trial testimoney, Iraq war lies, etc etc and you still show no enrgy in standing up to them.

Think about retirement.

Graciously done, Jay. The Bush administraiton will unravel before our eyes over the next year and a half - plenty of time for you and the rest of the DC media to redeem yourselves. We'll be watching.

You wrote

"Interference by lawmakers in federal investigations is serious business. So, too, is shutting down politically inconvenient probes by firing the prosecutors in charge."

Looks like both of these charges are true. What do you think should happen to those who did this? What does it say about this administration?

Jay, thank you for this mea culpa. You did what no one in this administration has ever done, admit a mistake. Please keep in mind that many of us just do not understand why those of you inside the beltway cannot see what is so glaringly obvious to those of us outside the beltway. So, please do us a favor and start regarding this administration and their statements with just a little more scepticism in the future. They really are monsters.

Thank you, Jay. The one most important thing the bloggers have done is reveal the pattern that everything this White House does is about amassing power. Everything. It's nice to see it acknowledged in this case.

Thanks, Jay

Jay, thanks for the mea culpa.

FYI: Marshall is just absolutely remarkable and he's been doing this for years.

And the other shoe hasn't even dropped yet. Why precisely did the US Atty in San Diego receive a negative job performance rating from the WH?

(I suspect we think we know the answer.)

Nicely done. Now if only the rest of the MSM would realize that those of us on the left who have been screaming "The sky is falling!" are, in fact, correct, and have been right about eveything since Januray 2001. This is a truly horrible Administration. There aren't enough jail cells.

Thanks for being a man of your word.

Echo the above commentator who stated - when it comes to the admin, expect the worse and save time!

let me reiterate some of the comments above...never give the bush administration the benefit of the doubt...they have no credibility...persue them as such

Credit to you, Jay, for the stand up job. But actions speak louder than words. After 6 years, you shouldn't be shocked that this turned out as it did. There will be other instances - will you continue to belittle TPM and other liberal sites for investigating when things are amiss or will you take the allegations seriously and follow up. As Colbert would say, "You're on Notice."

Good work on the mea culpa. Here's some more work for you:

If these 8 or so USAs were fired for not prosecuting Democrats or prosecuting Republicans, what about the other 85 USAs that were not fired? What did they do to keep their jobs? Start in NJ!

I agree with the sentiments of most here. You deserve credit for acknowledging your error in analyzing the situation 12 days ago.

But I'd be remiss if I didn't point out how smug, dismissive, and condescending your original post was. It wasn't enough for you to disagree with the theory that Josh Marshall was suggesting -- you had to belittle it, and him, and those who thought there was something to it.

This post does nothing to apologize for that particular sin.

Thanks very much.
You really and truly don't have to be a left-winger to believe the worst about W. & Co. Can we all agree on that by now? When has giving these people the benefit of the doubt worked out well? Ever?

thank you, Jay.

Props for admitting you were wrong.

(No, "I told you so." That's unnecessary.)

Let me pile on the congratulations. We don't hate you (journalists) like the right wing does. We just want you (journalists) to do a better job.

The better job being that you take a role like you did during the Clinton administration. You know, where you assumed the worst and worked that premise.

Many above have already said it, but I think it merits emphasis:

Whenever you begin to think that "No, the Bush Administration (and George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales, Condi Rice and Karl Rove, personally) couldn't possibly be that evil," just think again. It can and they are.

Rare thing indeed. And kudos. I was distressed upon reading your original article about this (then pending) scandal, because you dismissed it as a "conspiracy theory."

Let me repeat that. You DISMISSED the story. You lose. Josh Marshal, and the fine people (who have integrity) at TPM, win. Thanks for pointing that out.

Seriously, it is rare that someone in your position would even acknowledge us in the blogosphere, so I thank you for that. I may even start reading your columns again.

The link to this post from Talking Points Memo is one word: "classy."

This being the internet and all, I assumed it was snark. It wasn't. I agree. Classy.

Nicely put.

Nice apology, but I'm flummoxed as to why you are so guilible in the first place.

The left wing blogosphere is Cassandra- and everyone seems to be forgetting that Cassandra was right.

Thank you, thank you Jay,

Your integrity is showing.

I'm guessing you felt really good when pressing the send button.

Don't let anything, (some nose rubs above), distract you now.

Others will follow the path you blaze.

Thanks, Joel

Thanks.

Josh and the entire TPM crew really do an amazing job. If even a fraction of the MSM were as diligent and thorough, we'd never been in the spot we are today.

Thanks for admitting your mistake.

I just hope there is a new trend developing where the MSM stops taking everything uttered by the Bush administration as gospel truth.

Thank you Jay.

Jay, glad to see your note.

The MSM needs to learn a lot from Bloggers. And remember not all the bloggers are extreme.

MSM needs to get involved more into investigative reporting rather than just presenting so called "balanced side" of a story. Journalist are supposed to find and present the facts and not just report 'he said she said' kind of fake balance. When are you guys going to stop carrying water for the Bush administration?

All the evidence about Bush admin's track record should have given any journalist enough doubts to investigate the US attorney firing case from day one but the MSM remained lazy and a blogger with very limited resources like Josh single handedly drove this story. Kudos to Josh Marshall.

Were you really thinking that Marshall was a delusional crank while the White House was being basically honest? That was really the theory you thought best fit the known facts? Maybe Swampland should focus on some other topic...

You got a great deal of (well deserved) criticism for your smug dismissal of any nefarious motives relating to this issue.

I hope you get a great deal of (well deserved) thanks for admitting you were wrong to do so. Please consider this note one such thank you.

What is important, even revolutionary, about this medium is the instant feedback you receive, both positive and negative, to your work. I hope you take the thoughtful criticism you get on this site seriously and use it to make you a better journalist.

Excellent, Jay. Thanks
Welcome to our reality

Class act, Carney.

Now how about another class act apologizing to the "liberals" you demonized?

Mr. Carney:

Marshall was only incidentally "holding your feet to the fire". Mostly he was too busy holding the administration's there, ostensibly your job.

"Classily" acknowledging his superior work ethic, and superior ethics generally, does not get you off the hook by a longshot. You've made your reputation with this one.

Well done. A humble and gracious acknowledgment, sir.

Whenever I think about this particular administration in situations such as these, I hearken to professor Brad DeLong's admonishment:

"The Bush administration: once again worse than you can imagine, even after taking account of the fact that the Bush administration is worse than you can imagine."

Nicely said. The false "MSM vs. blogosphere" conflict frame is due to be retired, and you've just taken a big step towards a better one.

Kudos.

Experience has taught most of us netizens to assume the worst when it comes to the Bush admin. Even John Cole, the Republican founder of my blog, realized that there is no point defending these guys since they will inevitably disappoint you.

If you asked me, I'd say that your mistake is to go on assuming that we are dealing with normal people. Pretty clearly we are not - unlike anybody in history, even to greater degree than Nixon, they simply do not care about the usual process of governing. Sadly I suspect that the crazy dirty shouting hippies will prove with time to have understated the damage from Bush.

Bravo, Mr. Carney. Classy post.

To be sure there's a lot of nonsense on the web, but Josh Marshall's work is not. You (and your colleagues here) would do well to make distinctions between blogs that are reputable and those that are not (as well as between blog posts and the comments that they elicit).

Nice job Jay...

Now that the story is getting out on this, let's hope Swampland can offer some solid analysis and insight to the story...

For a corporate media reporter like Mr. Carney, I believe the important thing now is to consider what this scandal implies about the administration's OTHER Nixonian schemes.

The NSA's domestic wiretapping operation, the FBI's abuse of national security letters, the New Hampshire phone jamming incident (another of Josh Marshall's "conspiracy theories") the late night robocalls and various other dirty tricks played in last year's election -- shouldn't all of these be looked at in a more sinister light, knowing what we know about the Gonzales Justice Department?

Apologies are nice, but they're no substitute for good reporting.

A mea culpa is only the beginning. Get out there and do what journalists (are supposed to) do. Investigate. Calling "some Democrats on the Hill" is not investigating. That's taking the easy way out. In the immortal words of Jimmy Dugan "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."

Just another thank you for doing the right thing. Josh and the TPM crew have been doing an incredible job, and between their work on this US Attorney scandal and FDL's groundbreaking coverage of the Scooter Libby trial, I feel I've truly been best informed about the news from my blog resources as opposed to the MSM. I hope you and your colleagues are paying attention, because we so NEED you to get to the truth, ask the hard questions, be skeptical and keep our leaders honest (whether they are republican or democrat). Thanks.

I've followed the TPM stories on this and watched as it uncovered the story. Once the facts were out, it had to jump the divide to the mainstream. Your post here is, as Mr. Marshall says, classy. I hope your reaction invigorates your journalism.

I do not subscribe to Time, although I have in the past. I do not read Time, although I used to all the time.

I can't promise I will subscribe. But, I will pick it up and read it when I see it at the dentist, doctor or library.

And when I do pick it up, I'll read your column or stories first every time.

thanks

As Josh said: "Classy." It's a general human attribute that it's hard to admit you were wrong. So kudos for doing it, Jay.

To my mind the red flag initially was the firing of Carol Lam. Even if it had only been her, this was (or, rather, should have been) a big story in my opinion. That's the really big shoe still to drop. Who knows maybe there was a quasi-legitimate reason (though I think we all doubt that at this point), but it sure looked unseemly to me when she was pushed out as she was aggressively pursuing a major case against Republican Congressmen and the #3 at the CIA.
(Not that this Iglesias case isn't already a fairly big deal. It's looking like AG Gonzales, Rep Wilson and Sen Domenici are in serious trouble on that alone. But this may yet seem like small potatoes.)

It is nice to see someone taking responsibility. However, the Bush administration has shown that almost everything they say is a lie. If they say green, then it is red. If they say not political, it is political. If they say mission accomplished, it isn't.

Fox News believes and amplifies all of these lies, that is why no real debate could ever take place there.

Josh Marshall has the instincts of Jack Anderson, and that is in very short supply in Washington these days. Can you take your new act of responsibility and apply it towards more stories? or is this just a one-shot for you?

I complimented you a few comments up, but now I have a question: Is it standard operating procedure at Time magazine to call a few members of the opposition party to tell you whether or not something is worth investigating?

I guess I was hoping that someone in your position would do what Josh Marshall did: look at a set of facts that were highly suspect on the surface and investigate. Call some people who weren't already on your Blackberry to find out more.

That's all. Still a classy post. Thank you.

Good start Jay. Here's a suggestion so maybe you can stay a step ahead of the blogosphere next time:

start digging into whether the Bush administration used their warrantless domestic wiretapping powers to spy on political opponents.

Including the year 2004.

Thanks, Jay.

Thank you Mr. Carney,

Your apology is accepted--by the hundreds and even thousands of leftist, conspiracy theorist, cassandras out there who didn't think that Josh Marshall was wrong--and who certainly don't think that he relied on his "instincts" to get the story right. Your apology is nice but it reveals that you are too lazy for your job--you "called a few democrats" but they didn't appear concerned? Why was that the end of the story for you? The story is one of major but all too typical partisan wrongdoing and lawbreaking by the party in power. The interests you vindicate, as a journalist, are our interests as citizens not the interests (or lack thereof) of particular democrats on your speed dial.

You, and the rest of the country, were lied to by the bush administration. You, and the rest of us, are being defrauded, justice is being obstructed, justice is being perverted and you didn't figure out that *of all of us* you were being paid to get to the bottom of the scandal, not brush it off. The rest of us are just citizens but you have a trust, and you blew it.

I hope that in addition to your very gracious apology you will take some notes on how a real journalist and, frankly, a real citizen, behaves when faced with corruption at the highest levels of our government. Get out and protest--in your case you have a "bully pulpit" and the job of watchdog to help you.

aimai

Jay: Is the crow tasty or just tough?

So when will TPM win its first Pulitzer? It can't be too far off.

I am surprised. I was waiting for you to attack Josh to discredit him. Being a non-partisan goes a long way, even if it means not doing what your "Bosses" expect you to do.

i'm happy to see carney acknowledge error; it demonstrates the value of interactive dialogue.

but now that carney's acknowledged error, i wonder if he might consider just why it is that he was so wrong. has he really not been paying any attention since bush v. gore?

Yeah, it's called journalism and reporting. It's something the MSM should be doing more often rather than towing the administration line all the time. It's not only a good idea to be skeptical of what the administration (any Administration) says and does, it's the MSM's job (or should be).

Well done Jay! A person who admits when they are wrong and takes responsibility is worthy of respect.

"As the document dump proves, what happened was much worse than I'd first thought. I was wrong. "

Gee, the White House was scamming us? No way! I can't believe it!

Takes courage to admit a mistake. Good for you. The next step is to ask yourself why you made that mistake. Lotsa suggestions in the preceeding comment-cloaca; ignore them and look inward.

We all make mistakes. Few apologize as you have. Even fewer learn from their mistakes. Here's to your trifecta ...

sean s.

Thanks, Jay. We all appreciate it.

Jay,
You had no choice but to apologize. You have been so wrong for so long, you had to give in. This must be killing you. As John mentioned above, why don't you start investigating Chris Christie of New Jersey for unlawfully investigating and smearing Bob Menendez? And please, no more attacks on the bloggers. They, along with the American people, are way ahead of the MSM.

Remarkable.

Usually we see lefty blogs cast in the most negative light, while right-wingers can say virtually nothing that gets them a wag of the finger from mainstream media types.

While I have to give you kudos for the mea culpa, it does need to be said that this could have been your story had you been appropriately skeptical about this story. So often the media treats the complaints of lefties as nonsense, while right wing blogs' rants seem to get fed onto the front pages of our papers and ledes of newscasts.

This story is a big deal. I just hope that other reporters realize that it's their job to be skeptical about those who hold power, and to remember that they're supposed to be defending our rights, not guarding the privileges of presidents. There seem to be plenty of people doing the latter, using reporters as a club to beat down the former.

Just think if there were no bloggers. You and rest of the Washington elite media would have swept the story under the rug, as was your first instinct.

Good for you. Thanks for acknowledging Josh and his great work.

Now that the hat is off, perhaps Carney/TIME magazine will put on the reading glasses and do some follow-up penance on this issue. For example, howzabout a review of the US Attorney who was taken off the Abramoff investigation on the Guam bribery scam a few years back. There, too, a Republican operative complained about an investigation of influence-peddling corruption and the attorney looking into it was removed and replaced with a much more compliant attorney. The investigation stopped and so Abramoff, emboldened, continued on with his corrupt ways. (We know the rest of this story. He is now in federal jail feeling religious.)

I thought TPM's link title was snark as well (what with this being internets tubes and all) and am glad it wasn't. But it still amazes me how major figures in the media still can't fathom that this administration is nothing BUT political hackery. As Paul O'Neil said YEARS ago, form someone with a clear inside view, this administration has no policy people. It is ALL political, and yet Time and others refuse to see that that emperor is in fact buck-naked.

Classy to acknowledge TPM was correct. Now I hope this lesson becomes ingrained that thinking the worst about this administration will almost always turn out in the end to be the most optimistic take, once that facts come out.

Thank you for posting this.

In general I think that many in the mainstream press have been slow to appreciate the work of professional-quality bloggers such as Josh Marshall, Jane Hamsher, and Glenn Greenwald. The problem may be one of format. Weblogs, at first glance, look similar to one another. The differences are in the substance, which one must read - rather than accept the authority of the masthead. There is no New York Times of blogging.

I wonder if I may offer a general evaluation of why mainstream professional reporters seem to miss the boat on fairly obvious stories. The problem is that the source of quality control - the professionalization of news reporting - is also a way of limiting the range of allowable reportorial points of view.

Professional reporters operate in a world in which they work with (or in competition with) other reporters, editors, and figures with power. Their ideas are therefore shaped by the constraints of this world. Promotion is based on evaluation within the world, and not so much by those of us outside these circles.

Reporters look to their editors, and to each other, for evaluation on whether they are doing a good job. Think of statements such as "He's really out in front on this story." This translates as meaning that a reporter is getting scoops, but is measurably close to what other reporters are doing. Therefore, if a somewhat radical idea is not being covered, it's considered too "out there." Thus the failure to recognize a big story, such as the US Attorney scandal, until it acquires a life of its own.

To take another example, consider the inappropriate reaction of the gathered press corps to Stephen Colbert's appearance at the correspondents' dinner. Attendees were said to be scandalized. Yet I found his words riveting. Colbert said things that are now acknowledged to be true, and hit home in a way that is rarely encountered in professional commentary. Even if one does not agree with Colbert's political point of view, the sheer inability to recognize the power of his words is very telling.

One advantage of the blogging phenomenon is that it breaks through internal loops of communication to encompass the concern of regular people - people like me.I would be delighted if professional organizations such as yours somehow found a mechanism for stepping back and asking big questions such as those posed by today's bloggers. Not all the questions are insightful, but many are. I hope you will keep on reading them, and perhaps take them more seriously than you have in the past.

I'll follow Josh and say it's classy of you, Jay. But you forgot to say one other thing:

"Next time, I will do something different. Next time, I won't just run through speed-dial and go with the insider wisdom."

The aim here was never to make you look silly out of spite. It was to knock away some of the defensiveness and ingrained habits, and to get you to do a better job.

So we really don't want apologies, even if they're done graciously. We want you to be proud, not somehow embarrassed, by the old-school practice of shoe-leather journalism. And we don't really want to have to beg you to do it.

Do your best to own the next big story, Jay. Or move this one further by looking at what happened in the districts of the unfired US Attorneys. And take Brad DeLong's dictum with you: "The Bush administration is not only worse than you imagine even after taking account of the fact that it is worse than you imagine, it is worse than you can conceivably imagine."

Well done.

Now if you can show the same integrity when it comes to the developing canards over Clinton firing attorneys, I'll be impressed.

VERY classy. JMM and Talking Points Memo staff deserve a Pulitzer for this one.

The firing of Lam was the tip-off for me that this was political pay-back.

With the Libby trial and Waxman looking into pre-war intelligence, you may want to ask Josh what he found out about the Niger forgeries. You can be ahead of the curve on this one.

Dear Mr. Carney,

Thanks. That's it. Good post, clear apology. I'd ask my blogospheric commentator colleagues to remember: reward good behavior. Just that. If something happens down the road to raise hackles, pile on, feet first, as I hope to do. But right here Jay Carney is showing quality and clarity. Tip the hat and move on.

Best

Jay, look at the change of the Federal prosecutor in Guam. They changed prosecutors and low and behold the investigation of Abramhoff ended. I'm sure it was just a coincidence and any claim to the contrary would just be a liberal fantasy.

Nicely put, Jay Carney. As Josh labels this link: Classy.

The MSM media is actually filled with pretty bright people. They just need to remember that the power brokers are not your buddy, not your friend. And you should not be theirs, at least not during working hours.

Please read Froomkin and TPM regularly. Froomkin listed some lessons learned for the modern journalist right here:

http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=00156

Jay,

Well done. I would ask that you keep one thing in mind for the future--early on in the firstterm of the Bush Administration, the first office holder for faith based initiatives resigned. The reason he gave for leaving, was that the political arm of the White House ran the policy arm. Unheard of, and for good reason.

Just keep this in mind, and really, it all makes sense, don't you think?

I am surprised. I was waiting for you to attack Josh to discredit him. Being a non-partisan goes a long way, even if it means not doing what your "Bosses" expect you to do.

I won't go so far as to say "classy."

Maybe "long overdue," or "a drop in an ocean."

You and your fellow enablers have done too much, for too long, to support this Administration and pile on its critics, to expect a pat on the back for one tiny "mea culpa" -- and that after once again piling on the critics.

Let's see about 20 more of these -- or better yet, YOU guys doing this sort of digging -- and then maybe you'll deserve a compliment.

The big problem with your original post wasn't just that it was wrong about the scope of the wrongdoing. Anyone can be wrong about something like that.

The big problem was that you called everyone who disagreed with you a loony conspiracy theorist, even when those who disagreed with you in fact had the much more reasonable position.

I see an apology for being wrong, but I don't see an apology for belittling "some liberals."

Nevertheless, I think your apology puts you about 60% of the way towards the light, which is an improvement.

OK, that's half the story now. Jay, perhaps part of your mea culpa could include a story on the AG's that weren't fired because they were willing to do whatever the Administration wanted.

I've been watching for this for the past few days. Thank you for following up, Jay.

You deserved the criticism you got, and in turn, I'm truly happy to see you were man enough to admit it. More like this, please.

Now if only Joe Klein could learn by example . . .

It was classy of you to note your blinders in this particular case.

It may be difficult to truly come to believe C-grade sociopathic College Republicans are running the country -- I know it was for me -- but unfortunately this fact becomes more indisputable each passing day.

You now owe a more significant apology, not with words, but with deeds, as in actual honest investigative reporting, you know, the kind that used to happen before conservative "liberal bias bashing" anesthetized the media into suppressing all but occasional real reporting.

What Bleh said.

Okay. Josh Marshall just said this was classy. So good enough. Hope you learn from it, but the apology was nice.

Kudos, Jay. And yes, Josh is a treasure.

Nice move Jay. Some of those "crazies" of the liberal blogosphere have really been doing some fine work, and it is good to give them the well deserved shout-out. Classy Jay. Great Work Josh.

Thanks, Jay.

It's unfortunate that some people feel the need to gloat in the comments.

You showed a lot of class in your post -- I don't imagine it was easy to write.

Josh Marshall really has a great team over at TPM and I'm glad to see them finally receive some credit for the work they do.

Nice start, Jay. Perhaps liberals, in general, will get a little bit more respect from your mag?

I've read Josh Marshall's work since before he started blogging and his blog from it's earliest days. They guy has great integirty and deserves respect. If he's on it, you should leave reconsider your conclusions on the matter.

BTW, this is not the only issue where the keepers of the Conventional Wisdom miss the story. Dismiss us less and you will miss the story less.

I was just wondering -- Josh was holding YOUR feet to the fire -- who's feet are YOU holding to the fire?

You know, to a large extent is was Josh and TPM who uncovered the Cunningham/Wilkes/Foggo scandal too. They're really doing some pretty decent investigative journalism over there.

I'm not associated in any way, shape or form with those guys, I just think credit is due.

Jay,

You should not stop at taking your hat off, you should take a powder.

Josh did fantastic job, as usual and it would belittle his efforts to say that he is not a professional in his arena; but let's be serious, you are a FREAKIN' BUREAU CHIEF AT TIME! There is absolutely no excuse for you to even have been in position to second guess Josh and then eat crow. You should have already had this story checked twenty times over before making your first statements.

This isn't an opportunity where you should apologize. It is a glaring reality that you aren't very good at your job.

Thank you, Jay. Let this be a lesson to you to not inherently and blindly trust the "good intentions" of the Bush Administration.

An honest question:

How many times, in the past three years, has Josh Marshall been wrong?

He's not my kinda partisan activist, but he -is- a hard-working journalist who struggles to approach the truth instead of reporting on truth-claims. He's a moderate with a passion for fact-based reality. How come he, with his financially negligible website, is -correct- so much more often--and breaks stories sooner, usually, to--than the big corporate media?

Seriously. There are a few excellent journalists in the BCM, but they have impressive resources. How does a guy flying solo do better work than all but a (small) handful of the highest-paid, best-regarded journalist?

Way to go Jay. It's been a big couple of weeks for the blogosphere, what with the FDL coverage of the Libby trial and with Josh's folks beating the dickens out the dead tree media on the Gonzalez Eight scandal.

There's lots more to come, folks.

Journalist, like yourself, have not been applying the "smell test" to stories like this. Out in the blog world the smell test is one of the guiding principles. Sometimes they get it wrong but not that often.

My suggestion to you would be to go back to the basics. If something just doesn't feel right there is a good chance more digging is in order.

I, too, compliment Josh Marshall and his staff for doing a terrific job on this story.

It's nice to see an apology. My hat's off to you for doing it.

MSM types seem to be completely puzzled about why they keep getting slammed by lefty/centrist blogger types. While it's not true of all the MSM reporters -- WaPo's Dana Priest or _Time Magazine's_ excellent Haditha reporting come to mind -- it's apparent to this lifetime _New York Times_ junkie that the MSM has largely abdicated its historical role as a skeptical counterweight to Presidential power. They publish bogus stories about aluminum tubes and Iranian improvised explosive stories, they sit on unconstitutional NSA spying stories for a year and then lie to their own paper's omsbudsman about it, they don't ask administration officials why their final interview tapes of Padilla are mysteriously "missing."

This is why I'm turning more and more to bloggers like Josh Marshall and Glenn Greenwald, rather than the media outlets I grew up with. Of course they don't have the resources of a WaPo or of a Time Magazine, but I think they're trying to tell me the truth.

So stop writing snarkfests about bloggers, and start telling me the truth, too.

What I don't get and I never will understand is how the main stream media doesn't realize that they can make MORE money by breaking stories like this.

Time could double their subscriptions if they just told the truth, did some real investigative reporting, and did not buddy up to the administration.

True independence is your ticket to higher newsstand sales and advertising revenue.

Words are nice but you would do better to apologize with your actions. The next columns and blog posts you write will say more about your character, sincerity and integrity than has this one mea-culpa.

Risk getting an invitation to the next beltway shin-dig and start asking the tough questions and report the facts. Investigate. The MSM has manufactured enough consent to what this administration has done.

Good. Josh Marshall and TPM deserve the recognition. Now why don't you and your fellow journalists go to San Diego and report why US Attorney Carol Lam was fired and is it related to a too-long investigation of Rep. Jerry Lewis who has a very suspicious relationship with Wilkes and the same contractors involved with former Rep. Cunningham.

And then investigate and report on those still-in-office US Attorneys who apparently used their office for political attacks like in the 2006 Senate race in NJ.

Kudos for demonstrating a self-awareness and reflectiveness that alot of your peers are lacking.

You'll always get flamed by somebody. But if you try more of that awareness & honesty, you'll notice the monolithically-perceived "liberal blogosphere" fragmenting, with certain high-caliber segments peeling off and moving in step with any honest and objective perceptions you might be able to offer.

Well said, Jay.

And now, courtesy of Ezra Klein, Bush's Razor:

Given a possible universe of explanations for a particular [Bush] administration action, the most morally pessimistic and politically cynical will inevitably be proven correct.

Classy move, Jay, thanks for the apology.. Now go back to sleep. You may alarm some old women out there who don't want to hear that their president is actually evil...

Classy Jay,

Josh deserves a tremendous amount of credit for keeping this story alive and it proves that the LW blogsphere truly has the best and most invaluable citizen journalists out there today.

The MSM owes a debt of gratitude to Marcy Wheeler and Jane Hamscher of Last Hurrah and FDL respectively (for their Libby trial work), Josh Marshall of TPM (US Attorney purge), John Aravois of AmericaBlog (Walter Reed), and Glenn Greenwald.

Hopefully we have reached the point where these bloggers(whose instincts, by the way, have been generally proven to be right) will finally get the respect they truly deserve.

Thanks Mr. Carney. It is always better to pay credit where it is due, and to apologize unequivocally for any mistakes made by oneself in the past.

Time to learn from lessons, and move on - in the pursuit of becoming a better reporter/journalist.

It takes a man to admit a mistake. So my hat off to you.

Jay,
Why is the blogosphere correct so much more often than not? Why is it the national news media is so often late to the story? It seems to me the drums the blogs bang with intensity and perserverance on some actions of government keep the story alive until the national media finally are aware of it. Or if they are aware, they finally see the importance and report something. The firings of the USAs isn't the first they beat on and it won't be the last.

Good for you - I'm sure your mother is proud.

The USA scandal is not the first time Josh has been ahead of the game. He was way out in front on the Duke Cunningham story, and predicted that Dusty Foggo would be indicted.

Maybe if you checked the reputable political blogs (on both sides of an issue) you would be less likely to have to write columns like this.

Thank you for acknowledging your error. I strongly concur with many of the other posters on this thread. I have never been disappointed when assuming the worst about this Administration.

This administration is corrupt to its core. Everything is politicized. While they may be incompetent when it comes to policy, they have been absolute masters at amassing power and delegitimizing their opponents.

There is a reason that the left political blogosphere have been skyrocketing, while traditional political media are in decline. I consider myself a moderate. But I have been driven to despair not only by the machinations of this Administration, which has failed at almost everything it has touched, but also by the media's overwhelming inability to hold the Administration accountable for its spectacular failures time and time again.

Journalists are supposed to be antagonistic to those in power. That's their (and your) job. They are supposed to assume the worst. They are supposed to suspect the intentions of politicians and to dig to uncover the truth. The press plays an essential role in a vibrant democracy through its policing of political corruption and deceit.

That is the ultimate reason why the Libby conviction is so important -- it ripped the mask off of the standard operating procedure of this Administration, laid bare the dishonesty of the Administration in leading us into war, and revealed the complicity of the media in the process.

The wheels truly do seem to be coming off of the Administration, and the importance of Democratic subpoena power cannot be understated.

But we would be wrong to assume that the Administration can't do considerably more damage before the term is finished.

Once again, I thank you for your honesty and acknowledgement that you were overly credulous in your assessment of the Administration's actions in this circumstance.

I ask that when the next scandal emerges, as it surely will, that you maintain a more sceptical stance in relation to this Administration. We are counting on you and your colleagues.

Well done, Jay. Kudos.

Dear Mr. Carney,
Congratulations for admitting you were wrong and for giving credit to those whose noses are better suited to sniffing out the bad smells emanating from this regime.

I just posted a note to you downline advising you to pack your office thingies into a pasteboard box and exit the back door. Please ignore!
http://time-blog.com/swampland/2007/03/prepare_to_withstand_political.html#comments

Imagine if Time magazine added columnists like Josh Marshall or Glenn Greenwald? People who think outside of the box that the MSM find themselves in. Look at the stories that can found once you step out of the conventional wisdom.

Increasing Time's subscription base and sales, and reputation, aren't going to happen by adding another conservative who has been wrong about everything the last 6 years, Kristol.

Kudos where it's due--nice work, Carney. And the poster above is right. Liberal criticism of the media is because we want you to be BETTER, not because we want you to make our guys look better.

Frankly, the difference between liberal & conservative media critiques is summed up in the Libby case.

Conservatives think leaks are OK when they are used by Republicans in power to tarnish their comparatively powerless critics, liberals think leaks are OK when they are used by powerless people to expose facts that the American people need to know. So, liberals defend Wilson telling us that the Niger WMD story was bogus, while conservatives defend sitting VP Cheney/Scooter secretly outing a covert operative to smear Wilson and then lying about it.

Now, Jay, you need to do what only you guys in the big media scene can do--follow this up. Only folks like you have the time, the resources, the money to investigate this.

Who in the White House knew and when did they know it?

And what about the USAs who weren't fired? Not so much the guys in the middle, but the people on the "loyal" part of the list? What did they do for the White House to win such accolades?

Given the power that a prosecutor has, it's incredibly important for the public to know if this power has been misused.

Good for you.

Of course, the sticking point is not just that you were mistaken, but that you were so dismissive of others who were not. There was a huge amount of this pattern surrounding the invasion of Iraq, as well.

Still, you earn more credit here than J Goldberg did in the close-out of his proposed bet with Juan Cole.

Thanks for your honesty, Jay. Hats off to you for owning up.

I think there were a few main reasons for the reaction to your initial post.

(1) It was regarded as unbecoming of a journalist. Your job is to hold their feet to the fire-- you shouldn't need bloggers and commentors to hold your feet to the fire!

(2) The unfortunate fact is that this administration has done little to earn the benefit of the doubt. I agreed with the conventional wisdom that the Plame story was mere far-left conspiracy theorizing, when the story broke. Can't fool me again. But they did fool you! And your job is to ask questions!

Don't give into the delusion that all Democrats who ask tough questions of the administration are America-hating far-left socialists. We're defending this country's proudest, most enduring, most influential traditions. It's unfortunate that the GOP has lost its way in the past ten years or so, but that doesn't make us extremists. And you'll note there are plenty of conservatives and Republicans on board with us these days.

Impartiality is not just sticking your finger in the wind and seeing what the average policy position is b/w the Dems and GOP. That's what drives us up the wall. Your job is not done after you get a quote from each side.

Find and report facts.

I believe TPM is looking for an intern. You up for it Jay? Maybe you'll learn journamalism.

Wow. Good for you Jay.

A lot of bloggers, myself included, write opinion. Josh is doing real, and excellent, reporting.

Thanks for recognizing him.

Jay,
Nice Post!! But I have a question, Why after all this time does the MSM give the Bush Administration the benefit of a doubt? I just don't understand it....anyway nice job!

Great. Thanks.

Now could you join us "conspiracy theorists" and use your position to ask a follow up question or two? You have the position and the power, take some responsibility moving forward, not just for this single incident in the past.

It takes a lot to admit you were so totally wrong---and to do it publicly.

Now take the next logical step---assign two or three of the best reporters you have to do nothing but investigate the Bush Whitewash House.

It will be dirty work, and will likely result in a Pulitzer nomination at the least.

Can we anticipate an entire issue of TIME devoted to the revelations of malfeasance and misfeasance in the Bush administration?

Or will you continue to cary water for Bush?

Jay,

I want to add my voice to those who are giving Jay kudos on this issue. You just demonstrated that you're a mensch.

One thing has truly mystified me over the past two decades. When President Clinton was in office, the MSM (or, as I prefer to call it, the so-called "liberal media" -- SCLM) never failed to regurgitate the worst scenarios concocted by right-wing operatives wrt phony "scandal," after phony "scandal," after unbelievably phony "scandal." Whitewater, Filegate, Travelgate, Haircutgate, Campaign Financegate, Marc Rich Pardongate, White House Trashing-gate, Air Force 1 Trashing-gate, etc., etc. -- there always turned out to be little or no there there. The only exception was Monicagate -- and that was none of our damn business.

At the time, I was mystified as to why the MSM/SCLM kept regurgitating right-wing operatives' worst case scenarios almost as fact when these scenarios inevitably turned out to be wrong.

All that changed on January 20, 2001 (although we'd seen hints of what was to come in coverage of Election Campaign 2000 and the Florida debacle). Now we had a regime whose ruthlessness and dishonesty knew no bounds -- as was crystal-clear to me as early as their 2000 campaign -- and yet the MSM/SCLM consistently gave them every benefit of the doubt and sneered at those of us who pointed out the obvious, calling us "partisans" or "conspiracy theorists" or worse.

I honestly don't know why the MSM/SCLM act in such an unjournalistic fashion, mainly because when you confront them on this, they go into denial mode. I do have a couple of guesses: a) media consolidation into the hands of megacorporations whose bosses tend to be more friendly toward Republicans, and b) 35 years of Republicans working the refs, screaming, "LIBERAL MEDIA BIAS!!! LIBERAL MEDIA BIAS!!!" each and every single time a news story tends to put Republicans in a bad light or Democrats in a good one.

I don't think this is a conspiracy theory; I think it's just the dynamic that occurs when large corporations run the media and right-wing operatives mau-mau the media for almost four decades.

Thanks Jay.

I, too, would be interested to know if you will now change your approach to reporting and journalism. As a bureau chief you have to adhere to, and set, high standards. A starting presumption that "none likely exist" is a bad standard and bad example for a leader to set.

Finally, are you angry that a competitor scooped you? If not, why? What are you affirmatively doing to ensure Time is not scooped again?

Jay,

You don't owe any of us an apology... After all, I'm sure you, like Richard Wolffe on 2/20/07 believe that:

"I think the press here does a fantastic job of adhering to journalistic standards in covering politics in general. And the, um, the interesting thing in, in looking at the political coverage as people try to guess what we do is, is that they want us to play a role that really isn't our role. Our- our role is to ask questions and get information. But it- the press briefing isn't Prime Minister's question time."

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/02/20/bloggers-get-bashed-at-the-national-press-club-by-the-wh-crew/

You were just doing your job right? The job that Colbert described at the National Press Club dinner a year ago:

"...let’s review the rules. Here’s how it works. The President makes decisions, he’s the decider. The Press Secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home."

It's incredibly, really, that you big media guys don't get the rage we feel when we observe you merely passing time as our country and it's principles are run to ruin.

Yay! Way to go! That wasn't so hard, was it?

I'm glad, because now I can route for Swampland; it has great potential for learning and interaction between the "blogging netroots" and the "MSM". I really do hope that this helps MSM writers see the difference between the Drudge "scoops" (read: partisan planting of false info) and the real information-driven progressive blogs published by grown-ups, like Talking Points Memo is.

Well done Jay. We appreciate your work. But one further point to consider for the future: those of us who have come to despise the Bush administration, and who now approach them with reflexive suspicion, should not casually be dubbed "liberals" as you (and so many others in the MSM) have done. I KNOW that I'm at least a moderate (if not a "conservative" as I used to say before that label was perverted beyond recogition). I'm apalled by this adminsitration not because I'm some gooey "liberal" but because they've traduced every principle of good government (whether liberal or conservative) that I know of. Please don't airlily dismiss me as a "liberal" for feeling that way.

Advice for Jay: follow Ezra Klein's formulation at The American Prospect blog when dealing with BushCo. [http://www.prospect.org/weblog/2007/03/post_3095.html#015851]

"Bush's Razor: Given a possible universe of explanations for a particular [Bush] administration action, the most morally pessimistic and politically cynical will inevitably be proven correct."

Well done Jay. No snark

Jay, thank you for honestly admitting your mistake.

But as others have said, you apologized only for being wrong, not for going the extra mile and dismissing this story as a liberal conspiracy theory. If Josh and others hadn't ignored the Washington Bureau Chief of Time, this story could have been quieted down or even buried. Your instincts in this case weren't merely wrong -- they were actively dangerous. I hope you're thinking hard about why.

Yesterday I asked you where you were. Thanks for a very forthright statement. Approach the blogs as a resource and take step two. Just be a journalist and everything comes naturally. With this step you restore integrity to the profession. Good luck.

Jay,
Very Classy of you to give credit where it is due. It seems that many journalists to often paint the blogeshere with too big a brush. Josh Marshall and the whole gang at TPM are doing thorough research and thoughtful analysis and that deserves recognition. Thank you for living up to your word.

Thank you for following up and giving props to Josh. Too few msm journalists have the guts to admit they were wrong and even fewer to point out who was right.

Wow. I am impressed. Jay, I hope you realize that this column puts you head and shoulders above 99% of the political commentators in the country.

Well done Mr. Carney.

But I'm still going to sources like TPM and McClatchy for my news (and of course the good ole "Mother Corporation" here in Soviet Canuckistan, the CBC.) After the abject failure of the American news media over the last decade or so institutions like Time have a long way to go to regain their credibility in my book.

I'm hoping this story is a pivotal event in many ways, for the Bush administration and for the media.

Jay, thank you for realizing this is a real story.

However, I think that Josh Marshall's decision to proceed was not just based on "instinct"; it was based on deep analysis of how this administration functions. He's done a lot of investigations, real digging, looked at things from all sides, and, when faced with something which didn't look right, actually looked beneath the administration's first comments.

But that's what he always does.

It's called investigation reporting.

You'll love it!

Good start out of the blocks ... but sorry ... dragging your feet is no way to practice journalism .. nor to keep your job as a gate keeper or leader of the Fourth Estate .. sorry again .. no prize for you here.

How about you trying to lead for a change.

How about Time Magazine becoming a leader in world civilization instead of an apologist for the new American brand of facisim... ?

How about you do your f*****g job and earn your keep... ?

You picked the wrong people to be skeptical of.

I hope this reminds you of what your job is supposed to be.

Jay - get to work. This just the fiber of a thread of a quilt of corruption under the Republicans. Maybe the mainstream media should try getting out-in-front for a change and stop just being stenographers for the GOP.

welcome to the blogosphere mr. carney! no shame in being wrong only in not admitting it when we can all use the google.

So, what do you think will happen next? sure looks like they were trying to rig elections and interfere with prosecutions? abramoff and Guam? looks to go all the way to the whitehouse too. and Abu Gonzalez did not do himself any favours at his presser this afternoon.

my guess would be we won't have these idiots to kick around much longer.

What's sad is that the public has seen all of the scams and lies of the Bush administration from its inception six years ago, and the mainstream media has been afraid to admit it.

Rather, the mainstream media has played the Bush game and the American public know it and cannot trust the mainsteam media.

You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.

Very nice. Most of the time people hedge their apologies. You did not.

As it has been noted above, the safe bet is to assume the worst out of the Bush administration. They never disappoint in that manner.

Jay if you really feel as you have stated above, I would hope that you would pursue the following:

How would Supreme Court Harriett do anything, like suggesting the replacement of USAs, as White House counsel, without the direct instruction and involvement of W? That is just not a believable or rational given what we know about "the decider."

Wow, this sounds an awful lot like the New York Times apologizing to Carl Bernstein for that whole "Watergate thingy"

This is taking down the creeps in the White House. This, and the Iraq war, and the Plame hearings, and the Walter Reed hearings, etc. etc. etc.

Why not get on the ball and find your very own story to report on? Wouldn't that be juicy.

Good on ya for sticking to your word... You seem to be getting a healthy dose of stick and carrot here in the comments. If you look back at some of the meta-talk of bloggers on blogging, particularly the popular ones, you will see what they say about having to admit mistakes and having to have a thick skin to comments.

Anyway, still some valid criticism here, but at least it seems like you are beginning to see that there are talented, valuable, and honest bloggers out here, and that's a good step.

Great, Jay, now if you could answer these questions:

When Time jounalists want to find out just what is happening in Washington they visit www.talkingpointsmemo.com, not their own newsroom or website, correct?

You write above, "I thought the Bush White House and Justice Department were guilty of poorly executed acts of crass political patronage." Um, did you ever SHARE that thought with your readers? If not, why not?

How many times do you think the Watergate scenario is going to repeat itself, where off-beat journalists like municipal reporters (like Woodward & Bernstein) or bloggers (like Josh Marshall) sniff out wrongdoing while established journalists snooze and snore?

Hooray for Jay!

As Josh Marshall so eloquently put it:

"As has happened so many times in the last six years, the maximal version of this story -- which seemed logical six weeks ago but which I couldn't get myself to believe -- turns out to be true. Indeed, it's worse."

You should print out the above quote in 20 pt font, laminate it, and tack it up in your cubicle above your monitor. This will help you in your future coverage of the current Administration.

Cheers!

Kudos to you, Mr. Carney, from one of the 'rabid lambs'!!! Josh Marshall's site is the one I go to first thing every day. Thank Heavens for TPM, Crook's and Liars, and FDL (as well as the usual others) or I would simply go beserk trying to get the turth about what is happening in my country. Keep up the good work, and again, thank you for acknowledging Josh's terrific work.

Strange absence of wingnut trolls on this thread.

Not like I miss them...

I was one of the initial donors of TPM Muckracker. I feel that my donation has paid off in great journalism riches well beyond what I receive for my time and subscriptions for other MSM. Josh Marshall, Paul Kiel and the entire TPM family is now alegitimate and, in this case, gold standard of investigative journalism. I encourage other people to donate to TPM Muckracker.

I hope Mrs. Clinton is paying attention.

I, for one, am not impressed with an "apology" that only states the obvious. Jay, we all knew you were dead wrong, so your hats-off means very little. It is sort of like a con-artist who says: "Hey, ok, you got me." If you indeed learned from this experience, then you would respond in a way that reflects full accountability for the following:

1. your failure to be civil and stick to the facts in your disagreement with "liberals";
2. your failure to refrain from name-calling and verbally assaulting and ridiculing your fellow Americans who were much more informed on this matter than you were;
3. your failure to remain open-minded as a journalist;
4. your failure to learn from experience that the Bush administration has been one political campaign of deception after another, from Iraq WMDs to five trips to New Orleans;
5. your abject failure to meet your basic responsibility of the press in a functioning democracy by defending rather than investigating, by ridiculing rather than informing and exploring, by closing your eyes rather than opening the eyes of the public.

When history is written about these dark days in America, a heavy responsibility will be laid on the catastrophic failure of the press, and your work, Sir, embodies the essence of that failure, and the American people will pay a dear price for it.

Can you find out Jay why would President Bush woul