Judith Miller, whom many critics say made grave errors in her reporting on weapons of mass destruction leading up the the Iraq War, is happy Rolling Stone didn’t fire reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely for her erroneous “A Rape on Campus” story.
“I’m glad she wasn’t fired,” Miller told BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith at an event for her new book. “Everybody is entitled to a misstep.”
Miller’s own missteps forced her dismissal from the New York Times; her former employer wrote a book review about Miller’s new book, which defends much of her Iraq War reporting. The review doesn’t mince words:
“It was a devastating exile for a proud and influential reporter. Cast out of the journalistic temple, she says she felt “stateless,” and from the evidence here she remains a bit lost. This sad and flawed book won’t help her be found.”
On Erdely, Miller said what she’s going through now is punishment enough.
“What she’s gone through is very painful and will make her a better journalist,” she said. Erdely apologized for her missteps Sunday at the same time a scathing Columbia Journalism school report was published finding serious errors in her reporting on campus rape at University of Virginia.
Miller also suggested the media’s collective attack on Erdely and Rolling Stone is self-defeating.
“It’s very destructive, and it’s not good for us — because without us, for all of our flaws, there’s no democracy.”