Note the approach the New York Times is taking on the media predicament discussed below. It says: “the Bush administration should not use the serious purpose of this inquiry to turn it into an investigation of Mr. Novak or any other journalist, or to attempt to compel any journalists to reveal their sources. The Justice Department should focus its attention on the White House, not on journalists.”
As this follows a statement that there are circumstances in which leaks are wrong, the Times must believe that, although “serious,” this leak was not “wrong.”
