It is an article of faith among conservatives -- and some not-so conservatives -- that The New York Times under Executive Editor Howell Raines has become a daily version of The Nation: a leftist organ not just on its editorial pages but also on its news pages.
The Nation? No. But an objective paper committed to a fair portrayal of both sides of many contentious issues? Hardly. In fact, I don't think there's a major paper in this country that practices as much slanted reporting as the Times does. And then there's this, which has rapidly become gospel among many on the left:
The idea that the reporting of such views constitutes an antiwar crusade may come naturally to a conservative punditocracy that has been coddled in recent times by a news cycle driven by Fox News Channel, The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal's editorial page, the New York Post, Rush Limbaugh, and the like, but it's awfully difficult to defend as a journalistic proposition.
Let's go over this again. A cable news channel with a fraction of the viewership of the No. 3 network, a newspaper with a circulation that's not even 1/10th of the New York Times, the editorial page of a single large-circulation daily paper (which itself is published just five days a week), a New-York-centric tabloid that people read mainly for its crazy headlines, and the world of talk radio (a big format, but one of dozens at U.S. radio stations) are not "driving the news cycle." The hands on the wheel are the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe and a half-dozen other huge daily papers; ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS on TV; and NPR on radio.
Let me put it this way, Eric. When the "Moonie Times" or Rush get to the point where they can place dozens of correspondents on the ground in Iraq, or establish bureaus in the world's major capitals, or place reporters in every region of this country, then you might have a point. Otherwise, it really sounds like you're whining about conservatives just getting a seat at the media table.
And the kid's table, at that.
