New York Times bashing

[WaylonJennings]

Mitt Romney says that John McCain must be a liberal since the NY Times endorsed him. When the endorsement came out, all I heard was how it could be a bad thing for McCain among conservatives.

Considering the resources the Times throws into news coverage, I get a little tired of the Times-bashing that goes on in the GOP. Is the paper really that liberal? I honestly don't notice a bias. Does it go back to the Pentagon papers, perhaps? Or is it something that's been said so often that people just take it as fact by now?

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

Media bias = anything that disagrees with someone's preconceptions.

I explained to a conservative friend that McCain gets some slack from the media because he doesn't come off as secretive, manipulative and dishonest, and that our state had a Dem governor who was GWB-like in being a control freak about media access and got treated the same way by the state's newspapers -- they hated him and thought he had something to hide (and he did). My friend really couldn't argue with that. I don't think it's McCain's politics that the NYT loves, it's him.

 

[Write-brained]

Media bias = anything that disagrees with someone's preconceptions.

I explained to a conservative friend that McCain gets some slack from the media because he doesn't come off as secretive, manipulative and dishonest, and that our state had a Dem governor who was GWB-like in being a control freak about media access and got treated the same way by the state's newspapers -- they hated him and thought he had something to hide (and he did). My friend really couldn't argue with that. I don't think it's McCain's politics that the NYT loves, it's him.

Exactly.

And if you look at McCain's voting record, it's not nearly as liberal as some make it out to be. People just trust McCain because he's open and accessible.

 

[Ace]

The Times looks conservative but it's editorial board skews a bit liberal.

It has some foaming, rabid conservatives on the op-ed pages, though.

 

[BTExpress]

I heard NYT's liberal:conservative ratio of editorial writers was something like 8:2.

Don't know if that is 100% accurate, because one person's liberal may be another person's moderate.

But if the ratio is accurate, there's really no excuse for it.

 

[Ace]

I heard NYT's liberal:conservative ratio of editorial writers was something like 8:2.

Don't know if that is 100% accurate, because one person's liberal may be another person's moderate.

But if the ratio is accurate, there's really no excuse for it.

Good point. Should be 10:0.

 

[Editude]

The mix of editorial writers (as opposed to Op-Ed contributors) is whatever the paper wants. It doesn't have to be balanced nor should it. Editorial page openings generally detail what type of positions the paper favors (socially liberal, fiscally conservative, Libertarian), and it's to the paper's credit if its editorials follow those stated perspectives.

 

[Football_Bat]

No doubt they have very talented and influential writers.

But the design of the printed version makes it (for me) next to unreadable.

(Hi DyePack)

 

[jgmacg]

I think it all depends on what you're used to, F_B. I pick up other papers and can't for the life of me figure out how to read them.

 

[Chi City 81]

I think it all depends on what you're used to, F_B. I pick up other papers and can't for the life of me figure out how to read them.

Left to right, front to back. :D

 

[Guy_Incognito]

The mix of editorial writers (as opposed to Op-Ed contributors) is whatever the paper wants. It doesn't have to be balanced nor should it. Editorial page openings generally detail what type of positions the paper favors (socially liberal, fiscally conservative, Libertarian), and it's to the paper's credit if its editorials follow those stated perspectives.

Of course, but then don't pretend that you're something that you aren't.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

They've MURDERED Rudy this year, both in story slant/content, and story placement. Everything they could do to kill Il Duce, they've done.

 

[Ace]

They've MURDERED Rudy this year, both in story slant/content, and story placement. Everything they could do to kill Il Duce, they've done.

And deservedly so.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Hiring Bloody Bill (WRONG!) Kristol for the op-ed spot, and waiving almost all the NYT conflict-of-interest rules to do it, pretty much ends this silly discussion forever.