Alongside the front-page news article on the mayoral race, today's New York Times carries a box headlined "Voting Information." This three-paragraph box is mostly straighforward information, on the order of, "The polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m." The Times reports, "Officials at the Board of Elections said that voters with questions or in need of assistance may call the office's toll-free number: 1-866-VOTE-NYC (1-866-8683-992)." Then comes this doozy: "In addition, the New York Public Interest Research Group and Common Cause will operate a voter help line from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. today, at (212) 772-4463."
What in the world is the Times doing directing voters to a voter "help" line run by liberal advocacy groups with distinct stakes in the outcome of the election? If the New York Republican Party or the National Rifle Association or even, for that matter, the AFL-CIO or the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League set up a "voter help line," would the Times run it in the box labeled "voter information"? Just because these liberal advocacy groups claim they operate in the "public interest" or in the "common" cause doesn't mean their get-out-the-vote efforts should get a boost from the ostensibly objective New York Times news department.
Israeli Lobby: A dispatch from Beirut in today's New York Times reports on a new U.S. list of terrorist organizations that includes Hezbollah. "Indeed, it is widely assumed here that Israel was behind the new list, particularly after the influential Israeli lobby in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee," appaulded it," the Times reports. Never mind the newspaper's, er, appauling misspelling of "applaud." The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is not an "Israeli" lobby. It is an American lobby. It is funded by American donors and its board of directors is composed of Americans. It is not registered as a foreign agent. It is based in Washington, D.C. One could call it a pro-Israel lobby or a lobby for Israel or a lobby for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, or even, in newspaper shorthand, an Israel lobby. But it's inaccurate to call it an Israeli lobby.
Labor Market: Today's New York Times carries an article that runs under the headline, "Attacks Hit Low-Pay Jobs the Hardest." This is kind of funny, coming a day after yesterday's front-page Wall Street Journal headline, "Slow Economy Takes Unusually Heavy Toll on White Collar Jobs." If you go to the subheadlines, it becomes clear that the articles are pretty similar. The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported, "As Service Sector Weakens, Once-Hot Labor Market Is Quickly Turning Cold." Today's New York Times reports, "Many of the Unemployed Were in Service Industry." Not only is the New York Times late a day on this story, it also injects its oft-parodied "World Destroyed in Nuclear Annihilation; Poor, Minorities Hardest Hit" spin.
Lost in Worcester: An obituary in today's New York Times reports on the life and death of Edward Boland. The article quotes "Representative Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Worchester, Mass." That's Worcester, not "Worchester." The New York Times ought to know -- the New York Times Company bought the Worcester Telegram & Gazette in January 2000, for a price that was reported at $295 million. The paper has since been run by managers in Boston whose main objective seems to be squeezing the highest possible profit margins from the Worcester paper in order to subsidize the fat-laden New York newspaper.
Late Again: The Science Times section of today's New York Times carries an article that runs under the headline "No Second Term for Surgeon General." The Associated Press moved an article on November 2 that ran under the headline, "Surgeon General To Leave Govt. in Feb." That article reported "'My term ends on Feb. 13 and I don't plan to stay on,' Satcher said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press." The Times waddles in late again, without any credit to the AP.
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