An article on the front page of the metro section of today's New York Times reports on Herman Badillo's entry into the race for mayor of New York. The article reports that Mr. Badillo was "born in rural Caguas, Puerto Rico" and "At 11, without being able to speak English, he moved to the United States."
As Smartertimes.com pointed out on May 9, when the Times made this mistake before, Puerto Rico has been part of the United States since the Treaty of Paris in 1898. So it doesn't make much sense to say someone born in Puerto Rico "moved to the United States." Not only did Smartertimes.com point out this error on May 9, but on May 11, the New York Post "Media Watch" column picked up the Smartertimes.com item, citing the lyric from "West Side Story": "Nobody knows in America/Puerto Rico's in America." And, also on May 11, the New York Times itself published a correction on this point. Today, however, the newspaper repeats the same error -- despite having already corrected it once, less than a month ago.
Death and Taxes: A news article in the national section of today's New York Times reports on President Bush's signing of a tax cut bill. "It slowly winds down the estate tax, eliminating it in 2010," the Times reports. "But the levy, which Republicans called the 'death tax' to press their political case, will be fully restored in 2011, more than two years after Mr. Bush leaves office if he is re-elected." Why does the newspaper write it that way instead of writing, "It slowly winds down the death tax, which the Democrats call the 'estate tax' to press their political case"? The way the Times article puts it, it sounds like only the Republican language is politically charged.
Missing a Story: The Times reporter and editors who were responsible for the following three-sentence brief in the national section deserve some kind of award for "most drama packed into fewest sentences": "Disney World employees who dress as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and other characters have reached a tentative contract that allows them to wear their own undergarments. In the past, those workers, who are represented by the Teamsters union, complained that they had to wear Disney-issued undergarments, like tights and athletic supporters, tailored not to bunch up under their costumes. The workers turned in the clothing each night and picked up a different set each day, and several said they had been afflicted by lice and scabies from wearing other people's underclothes that had not been properly cleaned." This is a front-page story if Smartertimes.com ever saw one, and it's amazing the Times turned it into a brief: Mickey Mouse turns out to be a lice-infested member of the Teamsters Union wearing an athletic supporter. The Times brief contains no comments from any Disney spokesmen. Well, maybe Maureen Dowd or Frank Rich will come back at this topic in a column for the Times op-ed page and give Michael Eisner a chance to give his side of the story on this one.