New York Times McCain Controversy: America’s Newspaper of Record?
 
In light of the smear that The New York Times has perpetrated against John McCain, why is it that so many mainstream media journalists continue to refer, with reverence, to this partisan, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Democratic National Committee, as America’s “newspaper of record?” This assertion is ludicrous in view of the recent descent of this publication into the depths of journalistic depravity: Jayson Blair, giving away our national secrets to our enemies, and now the drive-by hit piece on McCain.
The Sydney Morning Herald says it best:
The story is a carefully constructed insinuation of an illicit affair that never happened. To achieve this end, it is loaded with 54 separate conflations, innuendos, anonymous accusations and narrative sleights of hand. Collectively, they cascade into a piece that is so loaded, selective, emotive and distorted as to be unethical. And this by the same newspaper that has published more fabrications than any other mainstream newspaper in America - courtesy of one Jayson Blair - yet has still not addressed the underlying flaw in the paper's culture - a sly partisanship that permeates the appearance of scrupulous journalism. This is the latest pratfall from a company in serious stagnation, even as it remains mesmerised by a sense of self-importance. Its share price and market value have dwindled to less than half what they were five years ago. The Times has a publisher, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger jnr, who inherited the job from his father by family fiat. A vacuum of support has emerged for the paper since this story was published. The reason is simple: the accusation implied in the opening paragraph is never supported by the reporting. The only person quoted as saying he warned Iseman, John Weaver, a former McCain aide, says he never told the Times he was concerned about an affair. The story implies otherwise. Weaver rejects this manipulation. He said he told Iseman to stop telling people about the influence she had with McCain's office.
The Sydney Morning Herald also has published a compendium of the article, with a clause by clause analysis of the sly innuendo, and unsubstantiated allegations made.
 
Beacon Street Journal
Monday, February 25, 2008
By John Kinsellagh