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So far, the principal character in the New York Times drama has remained silent.

Since she was fired last week by publisher Arthur Sulzberger, former Times executive editor Jill Abramson hasn鈥檛 uttered a public word about the circumstances of her abrupt and awkward departure. Nothing about the sexism many others say must have been involved in the two major issues being discussed: her pay level relative to male counterparts and her management style or personality.

That may change Monday when she鈥檚 scheduled to give the commencement address at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.

But in a 475-word Saturday evening, Mr. Sulzberger pushed back against what he called 鈥渁 shallow and factually incorrect storyline鈥� involving Abramson鈥檚 compensation as executive editor 鈥� reported by the New Yorker, Politico.com, and other media sources to have been less than her immediate predecessor, Bill Keller.

Still, as Bloomberg鈥檚 , that鈥檚 difficult to know for sure without more specific information about pay, bonuses (which may involve stock or stock options), and pension contributions.

Sulzberger鈥檚 most recent statement adds nothing here. He鈥檚 insisted from the start that Abramson鈥檚 pay package was comparable with Mr. Keller's and that by her last full year as executive editor, it was more than 10 percent higher than his.

Instead, Sulzberger focuses on Abramson鈥檚 newsroom management, which some of the staff 鈥� including Dean Baquet, the managing editor who replaced Abramson as executive editor 鈥� had complained about. And here, he addresses not just 鈥渟tyle鈥� 鈥� to many, a code word for sexism 鈥� but substance:

鈥淒uring her tenure, I heard repeatedly from her newsroom colleagues, women and men, about a series of issues, including arbitrary decision-making, a failure to consult and bring colleagues with her, inadequate communication and the public mistreatment of colleagues. I discussed these issues with Jill herself several times and warned her that, unless they were addressed, she risked losing the trust of both masthead and newsroom.聽She acknowledged that there were issues and agreed to try to overcome them.聽We all wanted her to succeed.聽It became clear, however, that the gap was too big to bridge and ultimately I concluded that she had lost the support of her masthead colleagues and could not win it back.鈥�

Politico鈥檚 media reporter, Dylan Byers, who鈥檚 followed Abramson鈥檚 career closely,

鈥淚n conversations and emails, Abramson led both Sulzberger and [Times chief executive Mark] Thompson to believe that she had consulted with other newsroom leaders about her decision to offer The Guardian鈥檚 Janine Gibson a job as co-managing editor鈥�. Specifically, they said she implied that both Dean Baquet, her managing editor, and Janet Elder, the deputy managing editor responsible for newsroom resources and staff development, had been informed and were on board with the plan.

鈥淚n fact ... Abramson had not consulted Baquet or Elder about her decision. Baquet did not learn about the offer until he was informed by Gibson herself at a lunch meeting 鈥� at which point the offer had already been made鈥�. When Baquet voiced his frustration to Sulzberger the following day, the publisher concluded that his executive editor had misled him, and moved to fire her later that week.鈥�

So far, there鈥檚 a 鈥渕ore in sorrow than in anger鈥� aspect to the story 鈥� possibly because both聽sides have agreed to a 鈥渘on-disparagement clause鈥� as part of the separation.

Meanwhile, Times staffers have begun speaking up on social media.

Deputy foreign editor Lydia Polgreen tweeted: "the women of the Times would revolt en masse if they thought gender played any role at all in Abramson's firing. ... There has been no revolt. There have been many searching conversations, but no women's revolt over Jill Abramson's firing ... Are women at the NYT afraid of losing their jobs if they speak up? I don't think so. I know I am not. ... The women of the NYT aren't shrinking violets. They more or less run the joint. ... The media has a woman problem ... It existed before Jill & persists."

The Times, like much of the media, may have 鈥渁 woman problem,鈥� as Ms. Polgreen says, but women do hold many of the most senior positions there.

Politico鈥檚 Dylan Byers points out: 鈥淥f the top-ten ranking editors at The Times, four are women: Janet Elder, Susan Chira, Rebecca Corbett, and Michele McNally. The Washington bureau chief is Carolyn Ryan; the culture editor is Danielle Mattoon; the national editor is Alison Mitchell; and the book review editor is Pamela Paul.鈥�

One thing is for certain. As Abramson鈥檚 daughter, Boston physician Cornelia Griggs, posted on Instagram, 鈥淭he story isn't over, not even close.鈥�