PressEthic

I wouldn't be able to get a comment from Judith Miller - that's virtually fact.

But it turns out the woes of a lowly student journalist aren't that far removed from those of the Times. Reporter Katharine Q. Seelye got a big fat "could not be reached for comment" in her piece on Miller's departure from the paper.

But if your name's Gabriel Sherman, Miller's happy to talk to you. A lot.

For a woman so anxious to publish a rebuttal in the Times (a request that was finally granted), Miller wasn't taking any other routes, like talking to Seelye, to get her side heard.

She's probably just a little upset at the Times' coverage, and probably a little more so at Maureen Dowd's column. But she'd eventually have to prioritize: is it better to stay tight-lipped with the "poor me, no one understands" routine or to give a measly quote to a Times reporter and make life easier for everyone?

Reporters and their sources have relationships of give and take. Surely Ms. Miller's learned that lesson.