The "Tell Tale" on this story is how the LA Times handled it. Here is a quote that sums it up. The Howard Kurtz comment is deadly.
The Los Angeles Times hits a new low today, equating an American hero, General Jerry Boykin, with the anti-Semitic Prime Minister of Malaysia (see below.) Do you suppose that the editorial writers have read the transcripts of General Boykin's remarks? I haven't because William Arkin hasn't provided them. But that hasn't stopped the Times from rushing to the basement of gutter journalism in its zeal to slander a veteran of many conflicts.
In an interview this afternoon, Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz was more than a little surprised to learn the details of the General Boykin story's handling by the Los Angeles Times, NBC, and William Arkin. Howard quoted the old media maxim that news outlets are in a rush to be second, a safe position if a story goes sour. It looks to me, and perhaps Howard --he wanted more details-- as though the Los Angeles Times manipulated the news cycle. Howard agreed that disclosure of the relationship between the three parties ought to have occured.
He also joined every responsible observor in denouncing Arkin's use of quotation marks around the word "jihad," when Boykin never used the word. Arkin has not yet responded to my requerst for the transcripts from which he worked. I wonder if there's more to the story, and whether the Los Angeles Times has asked the same question of Arkin.
Lileks blasts Arkin in today's Bleat, and others have taken to commenting on the story as well. Citizen Smash, Mitch Berg, CaliforniaRepublic's Carol Liebau, and a new blogger Captain's Quarters, have all chimed in and more commentary is on the way from me and others. The episode smacks of a set-up and easy Christian-bashing.
The effect is immediate: The general has announced he won't be giving any more speeches about his faith. That in turns sends a message not just in the Pentagon but throughout the land: Express your religious beliefs and you are going to be on the front page getting smashed up and blind-sided by half-truths and fake quote marks. Then a day later the paper will viciously equate you with the world's most notorious anti-Semite.
See, the Malaysian Prime Minister delivers a hugely anti-Semitic speech and other leaders rise and give a standing ovation, as reported by many news outlets and summarized by Daniel Drezner. (Hat tip to Glenn.) Perhaps American newspapers have their priorities wrong when they are chasing after heroes speaking in churches rather than publicizing speeches like that made in Malaysia yesterday. I cannot find any mention of the speech in the Times' news coverage, only on its editorial page.
hughhewitt.com
The LA Times hides behind NBC to CYA. |
