New York Times reporter David Kirkpatrick had some stiff competition for the 2013 Duranty Prize, but Roger Simon reports that he prevailed over runners-up Candy Crowley and John Judis in the ceremony held Monday night in New York. Kirkpatrick was recognized for his supposedly thorough unraveling of the Benghazi affair, “A Deadly Mix in Benghazi.”
Roger explains that Kirkpatrick’s account “was revealed almost instantly to be a meretricious piece of deception worthy of Walter Duranty himself.” Among those who contributed to exposing Kirpatrick’s piece were Steve Hayes and Tom Joscelyn at the Weekly Standard.
It is heartwarming to see the Duranty Award stay in the family, so to speak, with the New York Times. As traditionalists, we appreciate the institutional continuity. The Times works hard to honor Duranty’s legacy; it’s good to see the efforts recognized this year.
Whatever happened to Seymour Hersh? He’s not gone and he has not been forgotten. It should be noted that Hersh received the Rather achievement award “for a lifetime of astonishingly dishonest journalism on subjects ranging from the war in Iraq to JFK and Marilyn Monroe.” Hersh started out strong with his exposure of the My Lai massacre in 1969, but he’s been on a downhill slide for a long time.
We’ll return to this year’s ceremony when Ed Driscoll posts the award speeches this weekend.
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