More Evidence NY Times Hates Bush, Loves Kofi
By Bob Kohn
This post demonstrates a classic example of how the New York Times manipulates the news to further its agenda--this time, its hatred of George Bush and love affair with Kofi Annan.
Other than through prepared statements issued by a U.N. spokesman, Kofi Annan was nowhere to be found immediately after the tsumani's devestation became clear early Sunday, December 26. (He was on vacation somewhere in the United States). Finally, on Wednesday, December 29, Kofi Annan announced that he's cutting short his vacation (roused himself!) and the Times reports the story this way:
U.N. LEADER TAKING REINS OF RELIEF EFFORT
Not a hint that Annan was "slow to respond" and needed to be "roused" for the occasion. Earlier in the week, the United States, without the U.N., had already established a core group of countries (India, Japan, Australia, and the U.S.) to lead the aid effort.
And not a word appeared in that article about the increasing pressure Kofi Annan has been under to resign due to corruption at the U.N. and his repeated failures to act in a string of international crises. On that score, the Times editorial page has vigorously jumped to Annan's defense. It was now time to manipulate the news pages to make Annan look good. It was Annan who was asleep at the wheel, not President Bush, but with a little rewrite of history, Bush was slow to respond and Annan is "taking the reins" of the relief effort. Note, Kofi Annan wasn't even quoted in the article in which the Times announced he was "taking the reins."
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When the U.N. leader finally made his first appearance on Thursday, December 30, the Times made Kofi Annan's news conference the lead story on today's front page. Of course, the story was not spun as "likely to defuse whatever hurt feelings there might be in Asia" that the U.N. was "slow to respond."
By contrast, the article buried on page A13 of today's Times regarding the announcement that Secretary of State Colin Powell and Governor Jeb Bush will tour the affected region next week was spun this way:
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 - Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, seeking to raise the American profile in the international relief effort in Asia, will tour devastated parts of the region next week to assess the need for future aid programs along with Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, the White House announced Thursday.
As detailed in my book, Journalistic Fraud, this is a classic case of manipulating public opinion by distorting the "why" of a news story (as in, who, what, where, when, why, and how). The "why" was actually part of the administration's effort to further coordination among the core group of nations that had been established earlier in the week. But the Times changed this to "seeking to raise the American profile."
Manipulating the "why" of a story is one of the easiest, but perhaps most subtle technique of media bias.
Why was Governor Jeb Bush asked to accompany Colin Powell? According to the Times, it will "likely to help defuse whatever hurt feelings there might be in Asia that the president was slow to respond." The article omits the real why: Jeb Bush's extensive experience with disaster relief, occassioned by the multiple hurricanes which hit the state of Florida earlier this year.
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Bias at the New York Times was not a Howell Raines problem. It's an institutional problem that passes from one executive editor to the next. Until it is fixed, the Times will continue to lose its credibility as a reliable source of news. |
