The idea — as cited by Lloyd Gove in his column today — that TIME’s Matt Cooper is fishing for a job at the NYT because the newsweekly’s hire of Mike Allen has made him feel “a bit crowded” seems off to us. First of all, Allen is not that much taller than Dickerson. Does hog the covers, tho. And then there’s the question of whether Matt’s fishing… or was he pushed? Far from being crowded, we hear he may be lonely: Since his bravura performance of “I Was THISCLOSE to Jail” on the courthouse steps last month, the reception by his colleagues has been stilted and the magazine’s editors aren’t sure what to do with him. (Jim Kelley’s response to inquiries about Cooper’s future in last week’s NYT piece were somewhat less than enthusiastic: “It’s not a matter of appropriateness; it’s a matter of effectiveness.”)
The Times, however, has the perfect role for Cooper: foil. Our sources say that it’s not so much the Times that’s interested in Cooper as it is managing editor Bill Keller. The rank-and-file, on the other hand, wonder why Keller would be interested. We suspect Keller is looking for a soulmate, or at least a cellmate. With almost-a-martyr Cooper on staff, Keller might succeed in muddying the waters over of the paper’s internal investigation of Judith Miller’s role in the leaking of the name of CIA agent Valerie Wilson (Plame, whatever).
Please don your tin-foil hats before we continue after the jump.
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Tags: bill keller, matthew cooper, mike allen, new york times, plame investigation, press corps, time magazine
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