Times vs Bush - How the Times got behind the times

[DoYouEverWonder]

TIMES VS. BUSH
How the Times got behind the times

By Russ Smith

Who exactly is calling the shots at The New York Times is a fascinating question. It’s certainly not publisher Arthur Sulzberger, who’s living in his own bunker or “bubble,” wondering when his clan will give him the boot—but give the paper credit for rising from the mat and attempting to sucker-punch its increasing number of critics.

At least Chuck Munich Schumer is impressed. New York’s senior senator (in name only) claimed that the Times’ “stunning” front-pager last Friday revealing that President Bush had authorized the National Security Agency after the attacks of 9/11 to eavesdrop on the phone calls of suspected terrorists, including Americans, had led him to vote against the extension of the Patriot Act. There’s little doubt that the story had no effect on Schumer’s disgraceful vote, but you have to love the moxie of the Times printing James Risen and Eric Lichtblau’s bid for a Pulitzer on the same day that the U.S. Senate was debating the renewal of the Patriot Act.

Never mind that the Times, supposedly a champion of “full disclosure” in both journalism and government, didn’t note that the article was a sneak preview of Risen’s forthcoming State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration, scheduled for release by Simon & Schuster in January. No harm in skirting ethics when the country’s fate, as dreamed up by the Times, is at stake.

Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, who must be having a devil of a time trying to ferret out “excellence” these days, tried to put the best face on the daily’s latest act of subterfuge when contacted by Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi. In the Post story of Dec. 17, Rosenstiel stretched the imagination by saying, “It’s not unheard of to wait for a news peg. It’s not unusual to discover the existence of something and not know the context of it until later.” Nice try, Tom, but it’s hard to believe that no “news peg” could be found in the year since the story was ready for publication.

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http://www.nypress.com/18/51/news&columns/mugger.cfm

[newswolf56]

1. Pardon me for asking, but why is this fascist drivel posted here?

The Bush administration tapped the phones of people they considered threats to the safety of this country’s citizens? That’s a plus in my book, and instantly makes you wonder why Bill Clinton didn’t employ the NSA in the same manner, starting right after the botched ’93 attack of the World Trade Center.

I say again, why is this fascist drivel posted here?

[EFerrari]

2. So much for "excellence in journalism"

Sheeeeeeeeesh.