As if on cue, The New York Times has responded to right-wing blowhards (and government officials) who have accused it of treason – even going as far as considering persecuting the entity that is The Times in the court of Law.
Their new flash-based service, called “These Times demand the Times,” a snapshot of what it is that goes on behind the scenes at the paper, as told by the very people who do it for a living, is a refreshing counter to all the accusations of liberal bias. To watch (there’s video) the people who research, report, and write the news (they’re called journalists) explain why it is that they do what they do; or better yet, give the user/reader/viewer a broader insight into a particular story or column, is an exercise in rediscovery.
Journalists, true ones, no Jeff Ganons or Fox News “reporters” (I.E. Geraldo Rivera, or Bill O’Reilley), were once respected individuals. Now a days, they are a species in danger of extinction. Perhaps due to their own mistakes and miscalculations; but more so for the capitalization of the industry that is the news.
Consider this letter to the editor at a county newspaper, published a few days ago in response to other letters written by concerned citizens, expressing their disagreement towards the ABC/Disney docudrama.
” More truth in ABC series than you think
Sometimes I really wonder where some of the people who write in to the newspaper get their “hard” news. After reading the letters from three ladies on your editorial page on Wednesday regarding their firm opinion that ABC/Disney’s “The Path to 9/11″ represented a “propaganda piece” that must have been written by the Republican Party or ultra-right-wingers, I imagine that most of their knowledge about the news must be from either Air America Radio or the New York Times.
Ladies, the bulk of the storyline covered in the “docudrama” came directly from the bipartisan 9/11 Commission. If you had read the book that was published with the Commission’s’ findings, you would have read about 85 percent of what was presented in the miniseries.
The other 15 percent came directly from Richard A. Clark, (hardly a friend or even an apologist for the Bush Administration), and his book “Against All Enemies.” Read either book and you would not have been surprised at anything you saw in the movie.
Reality is that George W. Bush became president in late January 2001, and due to the continual counting of the ballots in Florida, was not able to transition key positions from the Clinton Administration for several months. Less than eight months after Bush took office, four airplanes hijacked by Muslim extremists caused nearly 3,000 deaths on American soil.
Who do you really think should be bearing the blame for the lack of attention that was paid to al-Qaida activities?
- Jay Cavanaugh
Dacula “
Well; the New York Times has answered Mr. Cavanaugh, and with perfect timing.
