Brisbane interview
Brisbane: "I totally understand the reporter going into full 100-percent defense mode arguing every point. That's what you kind of would expect somebody to do. But I figured that the editor would be, you know, 100-percent adult in the room and acknowledge where there were flaws and try to sort of essentially mediate an understanding that this could have been done differently and better. They relied for their sourcing on people who were in active ongoing disputes with the people they were criticizing. They didn't mention this kind of stuff. And they also grossly mis-described what was going on and who they were writing about. There were a lot of problems, but I got nothing. I spent hours and hours in that room with these guys, and there were many times when I thought, 'Why am I in this room talking these people? Why why am I giving them this much'-- frankly I don't want to say respect, they deserve respect, but, 'Why am I giving them this m
They didn't mention this kind of stuff. And they also grossly mis-described what was going on and who they were writing about. There were a lot of problems, but I got nothing.
I spent hours and hours in that room with these guys, and there were many times when I thought, 'Why am I in this room talking these people? Why why am I giving them this much'-- frankly I don't want to say respect, they deserve respect, but, 'Why am I giving them this much of the benefit of the doubt?' I have zero doubts having talked to a lot of people about this. They have some serious problems --the fact they can't acknowledge it struck me as neurotic institutionally."
What sometimes followed a public editor's conclusion was a rebuttal by those involved. The public editors have published letters from the executive editors, and in the case of Urbina's story, Brisbane published a response from editors Bryant and Berke. "Everyone is entitled to opinions. But facts are facts. And the public editor's column about our June 26 story on shale gas economics gets many of them wrong. As a result, the column's conclusions are, quite simply, misguided and unsupported." Urbina recalls in an email to me that Brisbane went into the meeting with his mind made up and that, "his meeting us was a pro-forma gesture so that he could the write his column with the veneer of due diligence."