So here is the latest Bill Keller memo to his staff. And here are my take-aways from it:
I’m assuming he did this Keller-culpa under duress -- he didn’t really want to but he’s smart and knew he had to.
I’m assuming that his memo “slipped out” on Friday because he knows that on Sunday the paper’s public editor, Barney Calame, is going to write a devastating critique of the Times and he wanted to do some pre-emptive self-flagellation.
I’m assuming that Keller has not yet accepted that Judy Miller is only one part of the Times’ problem -- that he must also confront an institutional arrogance that extends beyond one rogue reporter.
I’m assuming that Judy Miller has written her last story for the New York Times.
I’m assuming Keller wishes he hadn’t been so quick to give a speech earlier this month blasting bloggers, the Wall Street Journal, and everyone but himself.
I’m assuming that neither this memo -- nor Calame’s critique -- will put this story to bed. Not by a long shot.
I’m assuming, as I’ve been saying for months, that this ends up going all the way to Sulzberger.
