Friday, June 06, 2003

Two editors at the New York Times resigned. Maybe the paper will learn that even a big institution can fall if it succumbs to dishonesty. I believe the paper has also lost the vision of what it is. Rather than being "the paper of record", always reporting the story with the greatest depth, it has become the political voice of liberalism, especially New York City liberalism. A newspaper cannot be great if its news is slanted. It's editorials may take whatever slant the editors desire, but no one trusts a paper for long if it slants its news. We see this a lot at CNN and other outlets to. Many times it's subtle, like adding the words "so called" before a noun, if the story is about the other side. The Star Telegram prints stories like this. For example, reporting on abortion, they will use the phrase "so called" counseling. Even the Star Telegram did not run any stories from the NYT today, they were mostly from the Washington Post and from the Boston Globe. Most of the ST's front page section stories are wire services, such as AP, but they have leaned heavily on NYT stories also. I think we now need a national day of integrity, where everyone pledges to live the next year in integrity and honesty. Wouldn't it be great if big outfits like the NYT lead in that. Or if big accounting firms would be know for reporting and curing dishonesty, not helping their clients cover it up. And if politicians would claim the high moral ground. (Sorry for the pause here, I choked on my coffee after I wrote that one). Otherwise, we are on our way to becoming Nigeria.

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