Three astounding articles in this morning’s New York Times. The first is an unbylined piece wherein the Times editorial department flagellates itself—sort of—for failing to uncover massive journalistic fraud by one of its anointed. Of course, the headline itself, “Times Reporter Who Resigned Leaves Long Trail of Deception,” is misleading on its face. Jayson Blair’s fraud on behalf of the Times significantly predates his resignation. Presumably, Blair has conducted little, if any, journalistic fraud since leaving the paper of record.
The second Times article, Steve Lohr’s “‘New Media’: Ready for the Dustbin of History?” is disturbing in its cluelessness. “Mr. Diller and others have come to realize that two things succeed commercially on the World Wide Web: searching (like Google and Yahoo) and shopping (like Amazon.com and eBay),” writes Lohr. Never mind that millions of people are getting their news from the web (including the New York Times itself which enjoys more than 10 million unique visitors each month) and that the Times’ online division is actually profitable to the tune of millions each quarter. Thankfully, J.D. Lasica has taken the time to deconstruct Lohr’s inexplicable hatchet job.
Finally, the Times takes a crack at covering the forthcoming FCC vote on the rules governing media ownership in Stephen Labaton’s “Give-and-Take F.C.C. Aims to Redraw Media Map”. This is possibly the worst coverage of the issue I;ve seen yet in mainstream American media. Of course, the parent of the New York Times, which owns 19 newspapers, two radio stations, and eight television stations, stands to benefit handsomely from a favorable vote. Recognizing that five corporations control mainstream media in a “dangerous oligopoly” even former head of Fox and Paramount, Barry Diller, sees the present danger. Compare Labaton’s puff piece in the Times with Diller’s Now With Bill Moyers interview. Then take a look at Moveon.com‘s coverage of the issue and ask yourself where you should be getting more of your news.
0 responses. Comments closed for this article.