The Times Refuses Reprint in Moore Book, page 1

Sorry for the long quote, but some refuse to register at the NYT (even though it's free)

THE NEWS MEDIA
The Times Refuses Reprint in Moore Book
By EDWARD WYATT

Published: September 10, 2004
The publisher of a coming book by the filmmaker Michael Moore said yesterday that The New York Times had denied permission for Mr. Moore to include in his book a May article in which The Times reviewed shortcomings in its own reporting about the events leading up to the war in Iraq.

Publishing industry executives say that such denials are rare, and executives at Simon & Schuster, the publisher, said The Times was the only one of several publications it had approached to deny permission to reprint articles, photographs, cartoons or editorials in the book.

In a statement, Catherine Mathis, a spokeswoman for The Times, said: "We strongly value The Times's neutrality in its election coverage and we are determined not to associate ourselves with any work in film or print that attacks either candidate. Our note, 'The Times and Iraq,' was not intended to become part of a political battle."

Ms. Mathis said the decision to deny permission to reprint the article was made by Bill Keller, the executive editor of the newspaper, in conjunction with Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the publisher.

The book, "The Official 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Reader," is scheduled to be published next month, timed to the release of the DVD version of "Fahrenheit 9/11." The film has generated widespread controversy for its antiwar tenor, and critics of Mr. Moore have raised questions about some of the film's assertions.

The book is to contain a transcript of the screenplay, source materials for assertions made in the film and critical response to the documentary, including reprints of articles, reviews and editorials.

David Rosenthal, the publisher of the Simon & Schuster imprint and an executive vice president at Simon & Schuster Inc., said that The Times refused to allow Mr. Moore to reprint the 1,220-word article, published May 26. The article, which carried the headline, "From the Editors: The Times and Iraq," said that in the prelude to the war some of the paper's coverage, especially about the issue of Iraq's weapons, "was not as rigorous as it should have been."

"In some cases, information that was controversial then, and seems questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged," the article stated.

The article stirred considerable discussion among journalists and politicians over whether news organizations had been skeptical enough about the Bush administration's reasons for going to war in Iraq.

Mr. Moore, in an interview, said the book did not attack either presidential candidate. The purpose of reprinting the Times article, he said, "was essentially to applaud The Times for having the courage to admit their mistakes; it had nothing to do with Bush or Kerry.''

The Times "never asked to see the rest of the book or asked what is in the book,'' Mr. Moore said. "They made the determination of what is in the book without having read it. I think that's pretty lame.''

Mr. Rosenthal said Simon & Schuster received permission to publish about two dozen items from several publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He said the book would include two largely blank pages where the article from The Times was to appear.
NYT

The NYT refuses to reprint, that it was wrong when it supported Bush's false case for war? For Michael Moore! This is the liberal media?