The Sept. 16 article in Salon, which has been a fierce critic of independent counsel Kenneth Starr, infuriated House Republicans, who demanded an FBI investigation of whether the White House helped plant the story. The administration denies any involvement. Ironically, Sommer called Talbot several months after trying to peddle the story to Broder, who brushed it off. But ugly times call for ugly tactics. It smacks of agendas and advocacy, and I don't want to be part of that.
Some magazines have a history of fighting their battles in public.
He questioned how a Washington Post writer who criticized the paper's Watergate coverage would have been treated when the Post company was under assault by the Nixon White House. Broder, a former foreign correspondent for the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune and San Francisco Examiner, says he'll do some freelancing and continue writing for the Jerusalem Report while he ponders his next move. But Salon has become increasingly controversial in recent months for its tendentious coverage of the Whitewater affair, publishing allegations by Broder and Murray Waas that conservative money was funneled to a key Whitewater witness. This led to charges that Salon was in cahoots with the Clintons, particularly after Talbot and Broder chatted up the president and first lady at a White House party. In his memo to Talbot protesting the planned story on Hyde, Broder said he was already having trouble getting conservatives to return his calls.