Three weeks ago, 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner (prior posts here) penned this “review” of eight books on the media in the NY Times Review of Books. “Review” is in parenthesis because the piece was not so much a review of the eight books as a forum for Judge Posner to pass along his always entertaining views, this time on the media in America. Among his many observations, Judge Posner discounted the ability of even conscientious reporters and editors to put their personal beliefs aside to generate fair and honest journalism.
Well, in an interesting development, New York Times executive editor Bill Keller has written this Letter to the Editor (scroll down to the second letter) of his own newspaper in which he harshly criticizes Judge Posner’s article on the media as, among other things, “tendentious and cynical.” Bill Moyers and Eric Alterman also chime in. Finally, Dean Velvel provides this more extensive analysis on Judge Posner’s article, and Professor Ribstein has an interesting view of the journalists’ protective reaction to Judge Posner’s criticism.
I look forward to Judge Posner’s response, which will probably be published here.