The New York Times is no doubt pleased with itself for managing to get into its late New York editions a front-page report of a speech by Fidel Castro at the Riverside Church in Manhattan. The speech began at 10 p.m., which is late for the Times's deadline. What's disappointing is that the news report of the speech reads like it came from Pravda during the darkest days of the Soviet Communist regime. The article is straight stenography of the views of the Cuban Communist dictator and his supporters, without a word of dissent from the free Cuban community or Castro's critics in the American Congress, and without a single reference to the horrible human rights abuses of the Cuban regime. Without, in other words, any intelligent context. It is a sickening dispatch.
Understating Religiosity: An opinion piece in today's Times purporting to discuss how religion thrives in America in fact sharply understates the extent to which it is doing so. The Times article says "Polls have shown that a remarkable 40 percent of Americans claim to worship in various churches, synagogues and mosques." That's the number of Americans who claim they went to religious services the weekend before they were polled. But it understates the extent of religious participation. A 1994 USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, for example, found that 70 percent of Americans belonged to a church or synagogue and that 66 percent attended services at least once a month.
A Miss on Moynihan: The "Arts & Ideas" section of the Times publishes in all apparent seriousness a story this morning on the alleged debate over whether Daniel Patrick Moynihan is "a flawed social scientist, even a lightweight." The article attempts to be evenhanded, quoting Mr. Moynihan's defenders such as James Q. Wilson and William Julius Wilson and also his critics such as Frances Fox Piven and the Nation magazine. But the very premise of the article -- that there is still a quarrel over this among any serious people -- is mistaken. This debate was settled a long time ago in favor of the view that Mr. Moynihan is a giant. In scholarly prestige and accomplishment, the two Wilsons far exceed Ms. Piven and the Nation. Today's Times article lets Ms. Piven get away with attacking Mr. Moynihan for his political involvement without disclosing Ms. Piven's own political involvement -- she has spoken at conferences organized by far-left socialist groups and is a backer of the campaign to free convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Misspelled Name: An article in the national section of this morning's Times quotes a spokesman for the Federal Election Commission. The Times renders the man's name as "Ian Sturton." In fact, his name is spelled "Stirton."
Misspelled Name: An article in the metro section of this morning's Times about the "portly plutocrat" Saul Steinberg spells his company's name two different ways. The company is first referred to as "Leaseco," but the second reference is to "Leasco."