The national section of today's New York Times carries a profile of the new president of the Los Angeles City Council, Alex Padilla. The Times reports that Mr. Padilla "was re-elected to a full term this year and, despite his Hispanic roots, he supported Mr. Hahn rather than the mayoral hopeful Antonio Villaraigosa, a popular Latino candidate." Well, however "popular" Mr. Villaraigosa may have been, it wasn't popular enough to win the election. But what's really amazing here is the use of the word "despite." Does the Times really mean to suggest that when a politician is deciding whom to endorse, the assumed point of departure is racial solidarity? Does this apply to politicians of all races or just Hispanics?
Late Again: The New York Times metro section comes in today with the news that Andy Warhol's Long Island estate is on the market for $50 million. The property "was put on the market May 1," the Times reports. How, then, to account for the timing of today's New York Times article? Could it have anything to do with the fact that the news was reported in yesterday's Wall Street Journal? Today's Times article doesn't mention yesterday's Journal article.
Neediest Cases: An article in the metro section of today's New York Times reports on an evaluation of the city's privately run foster home programs. Scoring a 66.68 out of a possible 100 points was the Children's Aid Society -- one of the ten worst of the 40 programs rated. The Times fails to disclose that the Children's Aid Society is one of the main beneficiaries of the newspaper's own Neediest Cases Fund, funded with donations that the Times solicits from readers. The Times does note that Children's Aid "has a wide range of other highly regarded services for children not examined by the city." (It's the services, not the children, not examined.) Highly regarded by whom? And if the charity in question were another barely passing foster-care provider -- say, one without any ties to the newspaper's charitable campaign -- could it expect this sort of complimentary caveat?