Ken Layne writes (and Virginia Postrel agrees) that Howell Raines's legacy is a legacy of lies.
Other than trying to figure out which lies Raines actually told in these various scandals (did he tell knowlingly any?), I have to disagree with Layne and Postrel.
True enough, some will gloat on and on about Raines and his resignation. To these people, this will always be Raines's legacy.
To most, I believe, what they will most remember about Raines's stewardship of the Times will be its post-9/11 coverage (for which it won 6 Pulitzer Prizes) and, most of all, the Portraits of Grief. The Times is not a newspaper without fault. But, these were journalism at journalism's highest.