NYT Reporter Ridicules Pajamas-Clad Bloggers

He defends article on Afghan mineral deposits
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 16, 2010 4:18 PM CDT
NYT Reporter Ridicules Pajamas-Clad Bloggers
Do your own reporting and get out of those pajamas, says NYT reporter.   (Shutterstock)

New York Times reporter James Risen is not a big fan of bloggers. Yahoo News blogger John Cook, formerly of Gawker, learned this when he called Risen to ask about criticism of his recent story on Afghan mineral deposits. (Original story here; sample of criticism here.) "Do you even know anything about me?" Risen asked. "Maybe you were still in school when I broke the NSA story, I don't know. It was back when you were in kindergarten, I think." (Risen shared a Pulitzer in 2006 for a story on secret wiretapping. Cook was age 33.)

"The thing that amazes me is that the blogosphere thinks they can deconstruct other people's stories," Risen continued. And while a tamer version of this line appeared on Yahoo News, Cook tweeted that Risen accused bloggers of sitting around and "jerking off in their pajamas," reports New York magazine. Minutes after hanging up, Risen called back. "I was taken aback by some of the criticism, and didn't sleep well last night, and was upset about it. I apologize." (More New York Times stories.)

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