Man, I hope the NY Times has another ombudsman in the wings that will be as honest as Dan Okrent is. In tomorrow's paper, Okrent rips into the Times for it's handling of the Columbia University report clearing it's Middle Eastern studies professors of anti-Semitism.

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read Not Quite Everything About It!

Some newspaper people seem to regard beating the competition as the opposable thumb of journalism, an essential characteristic that distinguishes winners from losers. I think it's more like the tailbone, a vestigial remnant from the era when reporters were still swinging from the trees - that distant time when New York had eight daily papers, and newsboys in knickers prowled the streets shouting "Extra!" whenever their papers had something the other guys didn't....

I wish I could say the Columbia story was an aberration. I wish as well I could prove it was not. Reporters who make secret quid pro quo agreements with sources don't pick up the phone to tell me they've just concluded a deal. I've stumbled across several pieces in the last few months that emit a slightly fishy aroma, but it would be unfair to cite specifics when reporters deny they've made deals and I can't prove otherwise.

Ouch.