Eichenwald Thrashed -- Again

Kurt Eichenwald, who has been a pinata lately for his infamous $2000 check to Justin Berry, has been given yet another public thrashing -- this time by New York Times public editor Byron Calame, a highly respected former Wall Street Journal editor.

His column is here.

It's a devastating column. His "private citizen" explanation for the check is called "baloney." Calame says that Eichenwald "misled" his editors and concludes by saying that "even if editors ask a reporter the right questions, they must be able to trust the answers they get." That's pretty close to calling Eichenwald a liar.

I can't quarrel with the findings of the column though I'm sure Eichenwald will, and I will post his response when I see it. One question occurred to me as I read it: Would Calame have been quite this harsh if Eichenwald was still working at the Times?

© 2007 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.

-----------

Wall Street Versus America was published by Penguin USA on April 6.
Click here for its Amazon.com listing and here for more information on the book, from my web site, gary-weiss.com.

Department of 'No Good Deed Goes Unpunished'

I'm a great admirer of the work of Kurt Eichenwald, so I'm devastated by the way his name is being dragged through the mud over his $2000 payment to a kid he wrote about.

Eichenwald acknowledges he'd "gone off the deep end" in writing out the check, and that's true. It was an incredibly dumb thing to do. (And I do mean dumb, if his check funded the kid's porn site as is been suggested.)

I originally ended this item by saying "I hope the media coverage of this goof doesn't reach Bartiromo-like proportions." I still do, but that last link raises a serious question that needs to be resolved, if there is any truth to it.

UPDATE: Kurt Eichenwald makes very clear there is no truth to much of what has been written about him, and he's justifiably teed off. See this letter on the Romenesko website.

© 2007 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.

-----------

Wall Street Versus America was published by Penguin USA on April 6.
Click here for its Amazon.com listing and here for more information on the book, from my web site.