NYT selectively quoted Harman to falsely report she defended Bush's spying

[NNN0LHI]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200601050005

Summary: The New York Times selectively quoted Rep. Jane Harman to falsely claim that she had defended President Bush's domestic spying program, leaving out her comment that that she was "deeply concerned by reports" that the program "in fact goes far beyond the measures to target Al Qaeda about which I was briefed."

A January 4 New York Times article by reporter Scott Shane selectively quoted a December 21 statement by Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) to falsely claim that she "has defended" a National Security Agency (NSA) program authorized by President Bush that allows for domestic eavesdropping on the telephone conversations of people within the United States without court approval. But as Media Matters for America previously noted (here, here, and here), while Harman described the program -- as she said it had been conveyed to her -- as "essential to US national security," she also said that she was "deeply concerned by reports" that the actual program "in fact goes far beyond the measures to target Al Qaeda about which I was briefed."

Shane wrote:

Unlike some Democrats, Ms. Harman has defended the eavesdropping, which focuses on people in the United States who officials believe have possible links to terror suspects overseas. In a statement on Dec. 21, she said she believed that the program was "essential to U.S. national security and that its disclosure has damaged critical intelligence capabilities."

But Shane omitted the portion of Harman's statement in which she stated her concerns that Bush's domestic spying program went well beyond what she had been briefed on. Harman's statement (a portion of which appeared in the December 22 Los Angeles Times; the full version is not available online but is in the Nexis database) included the following passage:

"As the Ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, I have been briefed since 2003 on a highly classified NSA foreign collection program that targeted Al Qaeda. I believe the program is essential to US national security and that its disclosure has damaged critical intelligence capabilities.

[MasonJar]

1. I tried to contact the NYT, but couldn't seem to get anywhere; the

Contact Us site kept circling around. Do you know how to reach them? We should all let the paper know the article is unacceptable and needs to be clarified on the front page.

[xchrom]

2. the new york times can not be trusted.

they fully supported the 00 election theft, as well as the 04, the run up to the war, etc.

yes they throw liberals a bone here and there -- but they are nothing less than a messenger service for the corporatist elite.

one of the few times you'll se me use the word elite.

[NNN0LHI]

3. They are worse than Fox news because most everyone think they are fair

They are not fair.

Don