Thinly Sourced

(The Washington Prowler) - "On the substance, we think the story speaks for itself. In all the uproar, no one has challenged what we actually reported." That is what New York Times executive editor Bill Keller claimed during media interviews on Thursday after publication of the Times' attack on Sen. John McCain.

But that isn't entirely true, say Times reporters with knowledge of the debate between reporters and editors at the Times over the past three months. "In fact, several longtime McCain aides and congressional staffers disputed the facts in what the New York Times was trying to push," says one reporter with knowledge of the reporting. "That's why it took them so long to run with the story. People critical to the reporting of the story were disputing the facts and knocking it down."