THE 2,300-WORD TIMES CORRECTION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303370004-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 29, 2010
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: February 23, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303370004-3
ARTICLE ~-?? iriz=s~ TIME
ON I'ACL_ 23 February 1981
Press
The 2,300-Word Times Correction
A diplomat is cleared under curious circumstances
or nearly seven years. Edward Kor-
N- g, was U.S. Ambassador to Chile
when President Salva or Allen a ossens
came to power in 1970 has insisted that
he had nothing to do with secret CIA
plans to overthrow the Marxist leader-
But few believed senate Seleci
Committee on Intelligence reported in
1975 that Korry had p aye a m Nor
role in the aborted cou ; the New York
Times, Washington Post and other pub-
lications repeated the charge in numerous
subsequent stories.* Korry's eight-year
diplomatic career was ruined, and not
until 1979 did he land his present job as
visiting professor of international rela-
tions at Connecticut College.
Then last week, in an extraordinary
front-page mea culpa, the New York
Times set about refurbishing Korry's
reputation. Headlined "New Evidence
Backs Ex-Envoy on His Role in Chile,"
a 2,300-word article by former Times
Investigative Ace Seymour Hersh, who
still does occasional freelance pieces for
the paper, reported that although at-
tempts had been made by the CIA to en-
gineer a military takeover in Chile, "none
of this, it is now evident, was known to
Ambassador Korry." What the Times
failed to mention was that the writer
who was clearing Korry's name was the
man who had written some of the pa-
per's most damaging stories about Korry
-and that Korry was now one of Hersh's
sources for a book he was doing on
Henry Kissinger.
The Times article, surely the longest
correction ever published in the presti-
gious paper, was commissioned byExec-
utive Editor A.M. Rosenthal at Hersh's
suggestion. Says Rosenthal: "Sy called me
and said that he had come across new in-
formation that indicated that some of the
things we had written about Korry were
wrong. My God, if we were wrong in any
way I would want to correct it. I asked him
to write it for the Times. " Rosenthal felt
the Times had a particular responsibility
to correct the record. Says he:
"We had published [the Kor-
ry story) extensively and on
the front page. There was no
question that we should cor-
rect the record on the front
page." Rosenthal apparently
did not know that much of
the evidence cited by Hersh
TIME in its coverage of these
events gave no great credence to the
accusations against Korry, reporting
that he was among the US. officials
who had been accused of and had de-
nied any part in anti-Allende activ-
ities, and noting that "they may not
have known about the operations."
Korry in his office at Connecticut College
"Put it in writing. Tell Abe Rosenthal.
had been kicking around for years or that
Hersh had been pressing Korry for help
on his book.
While working at the Times, Pulitzer
prizewinner Hersh had written numerous
stories linking Korry with the Chilean de-
bacle. In one article, he reported that
Korry was about to be charged with con-
tempt of Congress for misleading testi
mony before the Senate committee. Sa
Korry: "Hersh was the first reporter t
stick it to me hard." Admits Hersh: "I
led the way in trashing him." When Kor-
ry protested to Hersh and other reporters
that some witnesses had lied to the Sen-
ate committee about his role, only one
newsman, Joe Trento of the Wilmington
(Del.) News Journal, investigated the case
in detail. In 1976 Trento wrote that Kor-
ry had been victimized by other Govern-
ment officials looking for a scapegoat, but
the story was largely ignored by the Times
and other major news organizations.
Not that Hersh had lost interest in the
matter. Korry says the Timesman ap-
proached him on several occasions, first in
Hersh in Washington, D.C.
1976, offering to report afresh
the Chilean story if Korry
would talk with him about se-
cret intelligence activities.
Korry says he refused as a
matter of principle. Hersh
Hersh called Korry again last No-
vember. Says the ex-diplomat: "He asked
me to help him with his book. I blew up
and asked, `Why should I?' He mentioned
that he now knew everything I had told
him was true. I said, `Put it in writing.
Tell Abe Rosenthal.' I thought that a re-
sponsible editor of a responsible paper
would want to correct the record." Ro-
senthal readily authorized the corrective
story. Korry, in turn, says that he then
provided the information for the Kissin-
ger project that Hersh wanted. Says
Korry: "I've always believed in justice.
But there was misreporting by the Times,
and certain people at the paper knew
that." Korry says he is not bitter about
the seven years "spent in a kind of iso-
lation ward." As for the Times's belated
.effort to clear his name: "It's a start." ^
heatedly denies that he tried
to make such a deal, but con-
cedes that he should have re-
examined the Korry case ;
sooner. Says he: "I thought he
had withheld information
from me when I needed it. I
probably punished Korry
-unconsciously anyway
-for not telling me more."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303370004-3