The self-delusion of the New York Times
Let’s start your Thursday morning out with a snort and a chuckle. Courtesy of Clay Waters at TimesWatch come three excerpts from NYT editor Bill Keller’s recent speech in London sponsored by the leftist Euroweenies at the Guardian newspaper.
First:
“Whatever you think of its policies, the current administration has been more secretive, more mistrustful of an inquisitive press, than any since the Nixon administration. It has treated freedom of information requests with contempt, asserted sweeping claims of executive privilege, even reclassified material that had been declassified. The administration has subsidized propaganda at home and abroad, refined the art of spin, discouraged dissent, and sought to limit traditional congressional oversight and court review. The war in Iraq alone is a case study of the administration’s determination to dominate the flow of information — from the original cherry-picking of intelligence, to the deliberate refusal to hear senior military officers when they warned of the potential for chaos, to the continually inflated claims about the progress in building up an indigenous Iraqi army.”
Second:
“Besides a decided preference for operating in the dark, the Bush administration has contributed to the woes of the press in another way. It has helped create a toxic climate for the press by inflaming the polarization of our public. At least since the election of 2000, with its attendant questions of legitimacy, some of the wide, reasonable middle of the American electorate has gravitated to angry and intolerant fringes, right and left. There are many reasons for this — including the proliferation of partisan blogs, hate-mongering radio broadcasts and intemperate television shout shows — but a president plays a considerable role in setting the tone of public discourse, and the tone of public discourse in my country has been nasty. It has been nasty by design; dividing the electorate into mistrustful camps and pandering to their fears was an explicit strategy of the president’s political wizard, Karl Rove.”
And third:
“Third, we are agnostic as to where a story may lead; we do not go into a story with an agenda or a pre-conceived notion. We do not manipulate or hide facts to advance an agenda. We strive to preserve our independence from political and economic interests, including our own advertisers. We do not work in the service of a party, or an industry, or even a country. When there are competing views of a situation, we aim to reflect them as clearly and fairly as we can.”
Okay, you can wipe the coffee off your computer screens now.
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Categories: New York Times
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Bill Keller should open a hogwash carwash.
You have got to be kidding me. And they probably wrote that with a straight face.
Smug face.
Wrong, wrong, check.
Good job on F&F this morning!
Any updates on deportthemnow.com?
Is he any kin to the guy who goes aroung offering beachfront property in Tennessee for sale?
Liberals equate the truth as a direct lie.
They actually think we believe their crap?
Delusional.
If in 2007 you can say this in one sentence:
and then state this in another
You obviously aren’t firing on all cylinders.
HAHAHA!! Wait, did they actually mean that? Jeez, I don’t know if that’s really funny or really, really SAD.
The sad part is these “Euroweenies” eat this crap up with zeal. If the spew comes from an American source, it doesn’t get any better to them.
I hope Bill Keller had his asbestos trousers on when delivered that speech.
Would you buy a used car from this man?
As the Grandfather to a brand new Grandson, let me translate:
“Mommy! My bonus is being hurt by those nasty Blogosphere Bullies!”
Amazing how they can so totally despise the country whose guarantee of “freedom of the press” allows them just that.
One can always tell who is the most biased, they’re the ones who insist that they are neutral.
When I listen to Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity on the radio, they say that they are presenting the conservative viewpoint.
But, as Rush and Sean say, liberals never want to admit they’re liberal.
Keller, Nothing more than an agent provocateur.
How about agenda-driven newspapers that pander to one of the intolerant fringes?
Nah, that can’t be it…
I guess the only morons who believe that crap, are the same morons who still buy that rag.
Can we bring back the Shrek animation graphics and cast this dimwit as Pinochio?
I just want to see that nose-grow as he continues this speech until it nudges open the back door of the auditorium….
How did you know!!!!
And the other members of the EQUAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT maybe???? HHHMMMM??? (Reid, Murtha, Kerry, Kennedy, Pelosi)
Did you FORGET about the NY Times reporting OF “secret government programs spying on bank accounts” information???
Well I’m glad that they cleared THAT up for me, I “assumed” that would explain the above comment. No need to question their patriotism here folks, they just answered it in black and white!!!
I “thought” that there were several compilations done on those damn chads. President Bush won on 3 out of 4 (2 out of 3) of those tests. Who’s being polarizing by disinformation???
The NY Times now has a Blog???? Sorry
Mey Michelle, WHO are they referring too, I’m not quite sure??
Damn, I did it again!!!! My laptop is now covered from a second snortful!! Oh this is VERY funny, Thanks for starting the day off with a good one!
Yup. Panhandlers often claim the same thing. They ain’t called ‘bums’ for nothing.
Wow, those editors live in an alternate world, but we knew that anyway. Of course, it’s all Bush’s fault the NYT’s numbers are down, it’s all part of his evil plan.
A trip down memory road:
On November 11th, 2004, New York Times Assistant Managing Editor Allan M. Siegal e-mailed newsroom staffers a memo yesterday titled “Re-examining Our Credibility.” It was a questionnaire that included suggestions to improve their stature in the eye of an ever cynical and skeptical public. It announced the forming of a committee to determine ways in which the NYTs could improve their accuracy and trustworthiness to their readership.
First, the mere fact that this action was taken by the media outlet confirms that they are “perceived” as inaccurate and untrustworthy and are aware of that perception. Secondly, one of the motivating factors of this “study” was that Public Editor, Daniel Okrent noticed an increase in the use of “anonymous sources”, or “officials close to the investigation” and the like.
Since that “study” the New York Times has changed little. Perhaps they have even taken a more aggressive approach in spewing their ideology and agenda. As a result, they have lost nearly 100,000 weekday customers. Their majority investor finally cut bait and sold their shares, and their reputation is tarnished beyond repair by any thinking person who can cut through the conjecture and tripe of their offerings.
In short, Bill Keller is overcompensating to challenge fact. Financially, the NYTs is hurting significantly, and there have been a number of rumors stating that the London Times is playing around with the idea of a purchase from Pinch Sultzberger. Sultzberger, of course, denies any interest in selling. However, how can you take such a comment as legitimate since it comes from the owner of the discredited New York Times?
Cheers,
IC
Lying comes easy for the NY Times, at home and abroad.
We laugh, but they actually believe this stuff. And therein lies the danger.
Just one more nail in their coffin
Where have we seen this before…
I believe Bill Keller absolutely believes all the claptrap he said. I believe all the staff at the New York Times believes they are unbiased, just like fish don’t know they’re wet.
If you live in Manhattan and work in the media, you probably don’t have much contact with conservative points of view. Conservatives are largely selected out of such organizations, which hire incestuously from liberal sources exclusively. If you work in an environment where socialists are common, where twentysomething chicks brag about their summer in Cuba, where never is heard a conservative word, you’ll probably think your far left views are mainstream.
The disadvantage of lefty media people is that they live in an intellectually sterile environment where conservative ideas don’t intrude. The advantage of conservatives is that we can’t hardly turn on the TV without being bombarded by lefty propaganda. This builds conservative immunity to lefty ideas through constant contact. By contrast, the left has no immunity to conservative ideas with which they come in little contact. They have no intellectual antibodies to answer our positions except insult.
The other lefty theme you see displayed here is contempt for freedom of speech. Paradoxically, the Democrats are not very democratic. They shun the ferment of dissenting speech, the melting pot of ideas. What they want is a monopoly on the public forum so that competing ideas are shut out. It’s one of the most revolting features of the Left.
We should take cheer from the New York Times’ alarm at blogs. They’re scared of us, not only because we show the liberal media to be fools so often, but because we are winning the war of ideas.
This is strikingly familiar along the lines of Clinton declaring himself to be relevant after the 1994 Gingrich revolution. He took the bait from Limbaugh, who declared that a congressional takeover can render a sitting president irrelevant. A few weeks later, Clinton started getting conservative.
It also rings similar to Nixon stating four times that he wouldn’t resign.
Funny how history repeats itself in different forms…
Good thing I finished my coffee before I read that. Isn’t NYT & honest reporting an oxymoron?
Sounds exactly like the ravings of Markos Moulitsas. I wonder how many in attendance laughed out loud?
Hahahahahahahahaha
I must have slipped into a parallel universe. The NYT really is unbiased?…
__________________________________
Tarpon, what do you propose we do?
I think my watch just stopped working and the BS meter on my desk is going nuts. Thanks for the morning laugh and I am so glad I was not drinking anything while reading these comments by the people who drove the paper of record into the dustbin of history.
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re NOT out to get you - new MSM motto re: blogs
NYTimes editor says:
As if to prove his point, MM calls his hosts:
If MM had a case that Keller was wrong, she could have made it. No case, OK, sneer and snide.
You’re a leftist Euroweenie, aren’t you?
Tango Foxtrot.
There’s that parallel universe thingy again. The NYT isn’t biased?
You forgot the “Whiskey”
Tango Foxtrot # 2
Sadly, Keller probably does believe this tripe. As an unknown sage said, “There is none so blind as he who will not see.”
Tantor #27…. true, true..well said!
“where never is heard a conservative word…..”
…and their minds are all cloudy all day….
Looks like the tree frog had a fifteen minute break.
Keller’s arrogance is only exceeded by his delusions. NYT is sinking ship, much like its stock price, and Keller is Captain Ahab.
This talk should have been entitled, “Look…he beckons…”
Did Gregory Peck get an Oscar playing Ahab? He should have.
Ummmmmm Whiskey.
Good one aj!
the speech was probably researched and written by a staff writer for the New York Times…a thorough job as usual…
Teachin’ Fuzzymath
No, it’s that genetic defect thing again. They just can’t tell the difference, nor can they help themselves.
Got it…
I’ve been reading this blog for a long time. lgm has been posting here as long as I can remember. So, I’m just wondering how he missed all those times MM has pointed out the hypocracy and bias of the NYT? If she has to repeat the evidense every time she points out the NYT’s excesses she’d never get anything else posted!!!
London? London! What is he doing in London? Isn’t there a tree he’s supposed to be sitting in in San Francisco?
Libs are a lil slow in the head mtneer.
Anyone who subscribes to the NYT supports this kind of utter stupidity! The management of this rag are traitors and fools. That would make the same out of anyone who supports them.
OK, so others focused on this sentence, too, but … WTF?
1) party: fine, they think they don’t work for a party; overtly that may be true, although as noted above, a fish doesn’t know it’s wet, and I think most of us “reasonable middle Americans” understand that they serve the Democrats (except when they serve the terrorists)
2) industry: OBVIOUSLY they serve an industry, or else they would simply fail; yes, they’re going that way, but they are fighting it, in service to their industry … it’s their.bloody.livelihood
3) country: OK, I guess we all knew this one heehee, just nice to have in black and white
He is a liar and that is why he and many like him will be out of work in 10 years………..I am wishing for the day the likes of the NY Slimes announces their last paper….God would that be great.
ok … let me see if I followed all this …
2000 Election invalid claim … check
Iraq War legitimacy … check
Cherry picked intelligence … check
Bush lied … check
Bush lied again … check
Bush always lies … check
Secretive administration … check
Military that disagreed ignored … check
Conservative Blogosphere evil … check
Talk radio evil … check
Conservative TV (Fox News) evil … check
Karl Rove strategy … check
Press neutrality claims … check
Is there any DemoCrap talking point this guy missed?
BTW … great to see you on F&F this morning Michelle … great points presented
perfect jim.
#36:
9:29 am, PBoilermaker said:
“On December 6th, 2007 at 9:27 am, lgm said:
‘leftist Euroweenies
If MM had a case that Keller was wrong, she could have made it. No case, OK, sneer and snide.’
You’re a leftist Euroweenie, aren’t you?”
My advice, as I’ve learned from our co-bloggers:
JUST
IGNORE
HIM!
“…..we are agnostic…”
*ding ding ding ding ding*
pre-conceived agenda boyzzzzzzzzz!
sorry.
Freedom of the press, my ass. I fail to see why the NY head honchos haven’t been charged with treason. All that seditious behavior by releasing of classified documents, etc.
Haven’t spent a dime on that rag in decades. Pity Pinch has so much dough and apparent non-accountability to stockholders.
Did they ever admit that the Durante Pulitzer Prize for reporting on Ukraine famine was bogus? A pox on the far left papers in this country. And it also bugs me that we are taxed to support the biased PBS and NPR networks.
#27 Tantor
Very eloquently put. I would have said something stupid, like, if you grow up in a brothel, you don’t think there’s anything wrong with sex on the first date.
Dimmicrats know that as far as their followers…A lie
repeated three times=Absolute Truth.
This is the same newspaper that said the majority of
Americans have been proven to be in favor of amnesty
for illegals and for Open Borders.
The NYT will never believe that it is an anachronism as
long as it has 3 subscribers. I received a call not long
ago from them wanting me to subscribe. The caller
did not appreciate the snickering.
Bill Keller edited for factual correctness:
That sounds about right.
#27 Tantor, you hit the nail on the head. These socialists need to get out more. They claim to be “for the little guy” but all they really want to do is to protect their liberal elitist status. If they had a real job, as opposed to hawking fake news stories, they’d fold quickly. Kind of like the “news”paper they work for!
Tantor, that’s why it gripes me when the MSM refer to
the Democrat party as the Democratic party. I think they do that for the more gullible voters that cannot
make up their own minds, so they gravitate toward this name.
Democrats don’t believe in free speech for everyone in
this country..only for themselves…and even among themselves, there are levels of free speech.
Bill Keller’s claim that the NY Times is “agnostic” as to where a news story goes is actually hilarious. Just consider two of the Times’ MiddleEast reporters. I refer to Deborah Sontag and Christopher Hedges. After President Clinton publicly rebuked Arafat for Arafat’s refusal to negotiate seriously at Camp David in 2000, the NY Times spin machine swung into action. Deborah Sontag, the leftwing correspondent, was given the front page of the Times to rebut President Clinton, Secretary Albright and Deputy Secretary Ross. She relied on a low level State Department Arabist, one Robert Malley, to conclude that Arafat was forthcoming at Camp David and that Barak did not show “sensitivity” to Arafat and that Mr. Clinton picked on poor little Yasser. That front page story was agenda driven. After Sontag left her reporter’s beat the at Times, Sontag was given the last page of the Sunday Times to write a love poem to Rachel Corrie. Sontag wrote that those who criticized the flag burning Rachel were “pathological”. No agenda, Bill? Yeah right. As for Hedges, he claimed that Israeli soldiers using a particular type of rifle attached silencers to the rifles and then secretly killed Palestinian kids. Unfortunately for Hedges, who would know nothing about weaponry being a pacifist, that type of rifle can not be used with silencers. The story was hogwash. No agenda there Bill?
#66 TXROSE: like George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” - all animals are created equal, some are more equal than others
Nothing is more telling than when I called someone a liberal and they quickly protested.
I AM NOT a liberal …huff huff
Even they knew its not a good thing.
Not self-delusion. Pathological dishonesty.
Wading through Keller’s rant brought to mind something Whittaker Chambers observed decades ago:
“Innocence has no need for outraged shrieks. Guilt does.”
I disagree with your headline. There is no “self deception” here. I believe they know exactly what they are doing, and they do so deliberately.
Thus, the speech is not an exercise in “self deception”, but rather an exercise designed to deceive the listener or reader.
MM,
Every time I see your graphic of fish inside the NYT, I wonder “Were those poor fishies dead before they were exposed to all the carcinogenic crap in the NYT or did such expose kill them?” Either way, expect criticism from PETA because even dead fish should be abused like that.
Could someone please explain the electoral college to the NY Times?
And someone asked why he’s in London - because France is more America-leaning these days.
Today’s word: obtuse
This has pretty much been a 7 1/2 year temper tantrum for the left. But if they actually pull out the Presidency in November everything will be rosey and they’ll want to annoint their liberl left leader and place a crown on their head.
A follow up on the Times and Bill Keller’s claim that the Times is “agnostic” as to where a story leads. Let’s go back to autumn, 2000 and the Palestinian “intifadah” was just revving up. The AP sent out a photo of an Israeli man savagely beaten and bleeding near a gas station. How did the NY Times use the photo? Incredibly, the Times ran the photo and said it showed a Palestinian man who had just been attacked and beaten by an Israeli “settler”. Then right after that blunder, reporter Deborah Sontag wrote a “newsarticle” claiming that “an Israeli military spokesman” admitted that Israeli soldiers had killed an innocent Palestinian civilian. Unfortunately for Sontag and The Times, there was one big problem: Sontag could not identify the “Israeli military spokesman” because there was none. Sontag could not produce a transcript or a tape recording or a video of the supposed “Israeli military spokesman” making the remarkable admission. When the Times got caught, Sontag said tut tut, no big deal.
The only truth in that speech was that they don’t work in the service of any…country. No shxt. They work in the service AGAINST my country.
Regarding Tango Foxtrot Whiskey (Alpha?):
The short-circuit has been diagnosed, but the time, effort, and expense to correct it is not feasible. It would only short-circuit again after reprograming…failed logic board.
Tantor and Larraby have added excellent analysis. Mr. Keller with his pretentious ‘above it all attitude’ is the poster boy for media eliteism. Notice what was missing. Not one word about 9-11,or militant Islam. Ernie Pyle he is not.
Oh really, Mr. Keller, so what happened here:
So I guess this was just a random mistake, which just happened to benefit a liberal group. But wait, they paid the same rate before, so it happened more than once. When has one of your random mistakes just happened to benefit conservatives, Mr. Keller?
Keller is still kvetching about the 2000 election? newsflash: Even his own leftwing rag concluded that had the Florida count been drawn out to the bitter end, the inevitable conclusion would have been that not only did GW win, but the number of Florida and electoral college votes would have increased. The day when the NYT goes tits up or gets bought out, can’t come soon enough.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I was one of those military absentee voters that algore tried to stifle by attempting to null and void our ballots. Talk about trying to steal an election.
They have to say that crap overseas and hope to get away with it…
Ahhhhhh, for men like Ernie Pyle. Men like him were an inspiration to true reporters. Sadly, op-ed has become the new standard for “Journalistic reporting” nowadays. I bet he would be a blogger if he were still around.
JohnHolliday #65 -
No, I’m afraid I cannot claim that privilege (especially on this anniversary of Pearl Harbor). I was in the 1st Battalion, 509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team when it was stationed in Italy.