Allan M. Siegal completed his career with the New York Times in 2006 after more than 45 years of service. Upon his retirement, he was the Times‘ assistant managing editor and standards editor. In response to the Times‘ 2003 Jayson Blair scandal, Mr. Siegal headed an investigative committee that recommended measures to prevent a recurrence. He also directed a task force which studied the Times‘ credibility and accomplishments. A juror for the Pulitzer Prizes in 1988 and 1989, Mr. Siegal was a member of the 1971 editing team that produced the Times‘ Pulitzer Prize winning coverage of the Pentagon Papers. In 1999 Mr. Siegal co-authored the New York Times Manual of Style and Usage with William G. Connolly. As an Edelman Family Fellow at the Shorenstein Center, he examined cases of the press treatment of national security information since World War II.
Secrets about Secrets: The Backstage Conversations between Press and Government
March 1, 2007
A paper by Allan M. Siegal, fall 2006 fellow, argues that while mainstream journalists almost uniformly advocate self-restraint on sensitive intelligence and military secrets, press and government are clearly unable to agree on definitions of “sensitive.” This paper examines vetting arrangements described by journalists and capsule case histories of both agreement and refusal to withhold
