Hayes writes below on Times editor Doug Jehl’s explanation for ignoring the Freeman controversy until after the appointment had been withdrawn. It’s a lousy explanation, but Calderone gets an even more ridiculous answer from Dean Baquet, the Times Washington bureau chief:
They didn’t need to “go nuts” over it — they just needed to cover it. But I took up Baquet on his challenge and googled Thomas Fingar — the last guy who held this post and who gave us the 2007 NIE declaring Iran had ceased its weapons program. The Times covered the announcement of Fingar’s appointment on May 7, 2005, the day after it was announced:
When Freeman’s appointment was announced, there was no coverage in the Times. There was no coverage in the Times until the appointment was scuttled. Perhaps the editors at the Times just think this administration’s appointments require less scrutiny and coverage than was necessary for its predecessor.
