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Times dissembles about Berenson e-mail

By Mark Obbie

The Alex Berenson email-scoop controversy just won't die. First was a report by Portfolio's Katherine Eban that Alex Berenson landed his scoop in the Times on Eli Lilly's settlement talks with the government by getting an e-mail accidentally. Then the Times slammed the story, claiming that the e-mail wasn't all that crucial after all. Now Berenson has told NPR's On the Media that the truth is somewhere in between. But in setting the record straight, he essentially confirms Eban's account and contradicts his employer.According to Berenson, the e-mail (intended for one of the lawyers in the case, Bradford Berenson) was sketchy indeed. But reporter Berenson easily decoded it, based on his longstanding coverage of the case, to say that settlement talks were under way. He says he knew that already, but couldn't write it because the sourcing wasn't "locked down." The e-mail triggered a new round of reporting. Berenson knew he had "real news" and intended to use the e-mail. He used the e-mail mistake as leverage to get the news sourced by lawyers in the case, and agreed not to reveal who screwed up. That's all understandable, and Berenson (in my view) hasn't lost any of his luster. He did what a good reporter does, and played this straight. But the same can't be said for his paper's reaction to the Portfolio story, which it turns out was spot on. (Via Gawker)

Full post as published by Lawbeat on February 11, 2008 (boomark / email).