What is the New York Times' Problem?

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday October 04, 2008 · 7:58 PM PDT

2008/10/04 · 19:58

I was waiting around in Court on Friday for a case I'm working on to be called, when someone mentioned the Times coverage of the debate. My obnoxious adversary (whose politics I did not previously know) referred to the NY Times as "Pravda," meaning its "obvious left-wing slant."

Not that it will make a difference to him, but I hope he saw today's front page article Obama and ’60s Bomber: A Look Into Crossed Paths.

This is a Seinfeldian story -- about nothing, but with a misleading, damaging headline that disproves any notion that the Times is "Pravda."

On the front page of the article, there is this quote:

A review of records of the schools project and interviews with a dozen people who know both men, suggest that Mr. Obama, 47, has played down his contacts with Mr. Ayers, 63. But the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called "somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8."

In other words, Obama hardly knows the guy, but has played down those limited contacts. Why??? Because of idiot articles like this, which imply terror links to Obama in their headlines (but not the supporting story). Of course he has to "play down" his contacts. What should he do, have Ayers appear with him at every campaign stop? Nominate him for Veep?

If the Times was going to run the story, the headline for the article should have been:

Inquiry Shows no Relevant Obama ties to Ayers

The article also might have included something similar to the UK Telegraph article diaried by Kitty earlier:

John McCain’s campaign has accused Barack Obama of consorting with terrorists, the first shot in a calculated programme of character assassination designed to revive his flagging presidential prospects.

As Media Matters points out, while having a front page Ayers article (the 18th mentioning Ayers) the Times has never mentioned John McCain's associations with right-wing confessed terror plotter G. Gordon Liddy.

"Pravda" indeed.

This content was created by a Daily Kos Community member.

Make YOUR voice heard!

Comments are closed on this story.