The NY Times "Mea Culpa" to Dean supporters

[La_Serpiente]

The NY Times "Mea Culpa" to Dean supporters

Jodi Wilgoren has been the lead Times correspondent on Howard Dean's campaign plane since last summer. She was among the first national reporters to recognize the propulsive force of the Dean movement, in July, when she wrote a front-page article studded with phrases describing how the candidate ''burst from his obscurity to rank among the top contenders" and his ''stunning surge" in the fund-raising race; a subhead read, ''Standing Up for His Beliefs." People in the Dean campaign believe she's an excellent reporter. I've never met her, but as a faithful reader I think so, too.

But judging by my e-mail and my Web surfing (which included a stop at a blog called ''The Wilgoren Watch"), she has a lot of detractors. Not Gephardtians angry about what they perceive as The Times's obsession with their candidate's fund-raising difficulties. Not Kucinichers who believe that The Times ''has for many months and from very early on been a heavy promoter of Dr. Dean; I don't think too many people would dispute that," as the congressman's press secretary, David Swanson, told my associate Arthur Bovino. No, Wilgoren seems to have become the face on the dartboard for Dean supporters.

Nearly every time there's a story about Dean in the paper, my in-box fills with complaints from his fans. (Every time there isn't a story providing a précis of a new policy statement from the Dean camp, it's almost the same.) They attack the editors of The Times, Wilgoren, national political correspondent Adam Nagourney and other staff reporters for misrepresenting, ridiculing or attempting to sabotage Howard Dean. They especially object to The Times's microscopic inspection of their candidate while, many say, the depredations of George W. Bush go unexamined.

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The NY Times "Mea Culpa" to Dean supporters

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[wtmusic]

1. Yes, Dean's supporters are angry too

and some of them probably direct their anger in the wrong direction.

[candy331]

2. Someone has to take on the media

because they sure as heck want police themselves. I say bravo to Dean supporters and other candidate supporters need to chime in too. The media should be protecting the citizens from the scoundrels in office rather than protecting the scoundrels. I hope they get this message eventually so they will learn what the media's true should be.

[Eric J in MN]

3. The Okrent article makes no mention of the Maureen Dowd column

The Okrent article makes no mention of the Maureen Dowd op-ed which used phrases like "hippie" and "Grateful Dead albums" to imply that voting against Howard Dean is a good way to show you hate the 1960s counter-culture.

Maybe op-eds are outside OKrent's jurisdiction, but since I'm sure he's received complaints, he should have said op-eds are outside his jurisdication if that is the case.

[Eric J in MN]

4. I didn't care for his "Deaniac" explanation

OKrent implies that because some of Dean's supporters use that term, it's ok to refer to even those who don't as "Deaniacs."

Just because a tiny percentage of a candidate's supporters have a self-decprecatory name for themseleves doesn't justify insulting all of them.

[kaitykaity]

5. Okrent mentioned the free pass Bush got in 2000, but

he did not cop to hit. I think that would be a great
idea to try, en masse, to make these whores to admit
what they did for Bush.