Free Republic

My friend and fellow Bulletin columnist, Frank Diamond, has come up with one of the best ideas of the new decade — an organized effort to formulate a plan to kill The New York Times. He writes, “Conservatives should convene a summit to come up with our own secret weapon to kill The New York Times. Surely, the brightest minds on the right can think of some business technique — perfectly legal but perfectly lethal – to hasten this monster’s demise.” (The Bulletin, Jan. 7) Mr. Diamond said he got the idea of a secret weapon from Bob Woodward’s book...

An interesting line appears in a $27 million lawsuit recently filed against the New York Times. “Liberals may live to love the New York Times, and conservatives may live to hate it, but all must admit that it has historically been among a handful of American media outlets that occupy a unique niche of authority and respect within American and world culture.” This struck me as only partly true. Conservatives rightly hate this newspaper, which we view as being a fifth column for the forces that want to drag down American society. However, can even liberals trust what they’re getting?...

In the past week, the Fourth Estate’s Hamas cheerleaders have stripped away any pretense of being honest or neutral, with the New York Times continuing to take the side of the terrorist group in one of the most shameful journalistic episodes I have ever seen. In following the Times coverage for the past six months and checking external sources of information, one can see a clear pattern of propagandistic reporting favoring Hamas that selectively suppressed or willfully misrepresented information. Even the Times knows it has a bias problem. Readers who detected it got a chilling confirmation of their suspicions in...

An article in today’s New York Times whines interminably about Israel’s ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza. But why should the Jewish state fight two enemies at once — Hamas and The Times? Israel is engaged in a war with cold-blooded killers. In such circumstances, who decided that journalists have a right to run around a war zone and interfere with combat operations? If a reporter for The Times is accidentally killed in an Israeli air strike or ground offensive, imagine the field day the paper would have with that. Daniel Seaman, Director of Israel’s Government Press Office — who’s...

NEW YORK The New York Times began selling front-page display ads, a first for the paper. CBS placed the ad this morning, which runs along the bottom, in color and about two inches high. The paper has sold small-classified liners on the front page prior to this move, but decided to sell display ads in such a desirable position because of declining advertising revenue. The New York Times' Richard Perez-Pena reports the paper will only sell front-page ads below the fold. Ad revenue throughout the industry has been plunging. The Times has been selling front-page section ads for the past...

As the new Democratic majority prepares to take power, Republicans have become, as Phil Gramm might put it, a party of whiners. Some of the whining almost defies belief. Did Alberto Gonzales, the former attorney general, really say, “I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror”? Did Rush Limbaugh really suggest that the financial crisis was the result of a conspiracy, masterminded by that evil genius Chuck Schumer? But most of the whining takes the form of claims that the Bush administration’s failure was simply a matter of bad luck — either the...

New York Times (NYT) management is finally taking the steps necessary to try to save the company. Several years too late? Yes. But better late than never. First, the company announced plans to sell its headquarters, which should bring in $250 million. Then it began actively shopping the Boston Globe and Red Sox stake, which might bring in another $250 million (if it can find anyone to buy them). Now it has filed a shelf registration with the SEC to permit it to issue a variety of different securities when it feels like it. -snip- In our opinion, this plan...

Vicki L. Iseman The NY Times "Chickens Have Come To Roost." Last February the NY Times wrote a smear piece which said in part that Lobbyist Viki Iseman's relationship with Senator John McCain was not exactly professional. The Times article was so bogus that its own public editor, Clark Hoyt wrote a piece bashing the story. The Suit charges that the Times trashed MS Iseman's reputation just to damage McCain's political aspirations. She is asking for $27 Million. Here's hoping that she gets that and much more. Full story below:

Washington lobbyist Vicki L. Iseman has filed a $27 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times for a February article about Iseman and her relationship with Sen. John McCain.

Washington lobbyist Vicki L. Iseman has filed a $27 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times for a February article about Iseman and her relationship with Sen. John McCain. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond on Tuesday, alleges the article falsely communicated that Iseman and McCain had an illicit “romantic” relationship in 1999 when he was chair of the Senate Commerce Committee and she was a lobbyist representing clients before Congress. The suit also names the executive editor of the Times, its Washington bureau chief and four reporters who wrote the story as defendants. William Keller,...

NY Times assets up for grabs(Agencies) Updated: 2008-12-30 07:56 The New York Times Co, facing a $400 million debt repayment and a 60 percent drop in its stock price this year, is pursuing asset sales almost a year after its biggest investor demanded changes to the business. The New York Times headquarters is seen in February 2008 in New York City. New York Times is seeking a buyer for its 17.5 percent of the holding company for the Boston Red Sox baseball team, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, citing two unidentified people familiar with the discussions. That sale...

Surprise! Surprise! Former New York Times reporter Chris Hedges has admitted what almost anyone familiar with his reality-challenged rantings already knew: he is a socialist. Hedges explains in Truthdig Why I Am a Socialist (emphasis mine): The corporate forces that are looting the Treasury and have plunged us into a depression will not be contained by the two main political parties. The Democratic and Republican parties have become little more than squalid clubs of privilege and wealth, whores to money and corporate interests, hostage to a massive arms industry, and so adept at deception and self-delusion they no longer know...

Surprise! Surprise! Former New York Times reporter Chris Hedges has admitted what almost anyone familiar with his reality-challenged rantings already knew: he is a socialist. Hedges explains in Truthdig Why I Am a Socialist (emphasis mine): The corporate forces that are looting the Treasury and have plunged us into a depression will not be contained by the two main political parties. The Democratic and Republican parties have become little more than squalid clubs of privilege and wealth, whores to money and corporate interests, hostage to a massive arms industry, and so adept at deception and self-delusion they no longer know...

BAGHDAD — Pro-Gaza demonstrations in Iraq are giving Shiite and Sunni sects a common target for their anger and adding to the rising fears of instability in the Middle East. It’s a sharp turnaround from the aftermath of the U.S. invasion when Palestinians were the focus of Shiite death squads here. Palestinians, many of whom are Sunnis, were once protected in Iraq by Saddam Hussein. Going back to 1948, Iraqis have provided shelter for Palestinians fleeing conflicts. Once Shiites came to power the Palestinian enclaves were heavily targeted. Many were killed and many more attempted to flee the country. About...

The Times, which last month mocked Sarah Palin for getting taken in by a French prank…got taken in by a French prank, printing a letter Monday allegedly from Bertrand Delanoe, the Mayor of Paris, calling Caroline Kennedy's bid for a U.S. Senate seat as "appalling" and "not very democratic."

Computer users in China found themselves unable to log onto the New York Times web site this week. The site has been blocked by the Chinese Communist government for “politically unacceptable content.” “While we are hesitant to take such action against a publication that has been of inestimable assistance to the Chinese People’s Republic, we are ashamed to say that the editorial content has become dangerous,” said Dung Chiao Mein, Minister of Electronic Communications for the Chinese government. The “dangerous content” is purported to be the paper’s “rabid animus against commerce.” “The Times has become depressingly and appallingly ‘left wing’...

There is a rush on in some quarters of the liberal mainstream press to blame President Bush for anything and everything that could cause grief to the incoming Obama Administration. The New York Times, one of the usual suspects, takes its turn today with an article that attempts to lay blame at the feet of Bush for a chain of events that has it's root in the decisions of President Bill Clinton.

The New York Times is currently putting together a book, named "Obama: The Historic Journey," which features photos and essays depicting US President-elect Barack Obama's life. The book will be published by Riverhead in February 2009. The much-awaited book will talk about Obama's journey, starting from his childhood to his historical win as the 44th President of America, reports Politico.com. The "heavily illustrated book cover[s] Barack Obama's life, from his childhood through his inauguration as the 44th president of the United States, with a final chapter that includes the inaugural address and a 32-page photo essay by 12 New York...

WASHINGTON -- The decline of The New York Times continues, alas and egad. On Monday, the Times was duped by some scoundrel who sent the newspaper's Web site a rude e-mail about Caroline Kennedy. It supposedly was signed by Bertrand Delanoe, the mayor of Paris. Now the Times has had to admit: "We posted a letter that carries the name of Bertrand Delanoe, the mayor of Paris, sharply criticizing Caroline Kennedy. This letter was a fake. It should not have been published. Doing so violated both our standards and our procedures in publishing signed letters from our readers." Well, I,...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — This frontier city boasts a major air base and Pakistani Army and paramilitary garrisons. But the 200 Taliban guerrillas were in no rush as they methodically ransacked depots with NATO supplies here two weeks ago. Skip to next paragraph The New York Times An important NATO supply line goes over Khyber Pass. Pakistani employees two weeks ago inspected trucks burned by Taliban guerrillas at a depot with NATO supplies in Peshawar. The militants began by blocking off a long stretch of the main road, giving them plenty of time to burn everything inside, said one guard, Haroon...

The editors of the New York Times have gone beyond the call of proud left-wing media duty on more than one occasion in recent memory. Despite having to use one of its buildings as collateral due to less-than-glowing financial statements, the daily has not lost the self-assured content selection that only the New Yorker could (maybe) compete with. Earlier this year, the NYT rejected an op-ed by presidential hopeful John McCain about his plan for Iraq only a week after it published a piece on the same subject by President-elect Obama. The editor of the section explained, saying, “'I'm not...

Duncan Hunter went on Hardball and criticized the New York Times editorial on detainee abuse as "left wing rubbish". Janice Karpinski would disagree with Hunter's assertion that the blame for the abuse did not go all the way to the top.

A lot of fairly well-known public companies either disappeared or went bankrupt this year. Circuit City is on the list. Based on the most recent news GM may get added soon. 24/7 Wall St. looked at some of the largest and most well-known companies, reviewed their SEC filings if they are public, analyst reports, and media observations about their businesses and picked ten that probably won’t be around at the end of next year. That does not mean that their brands will disappear, but these companies will have been dissolved as the world knows them now or working though the...

On December 5, the New York Times afforded former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers a chance to publish an op-ed, in which he defends himself from various charges made during the 2008 presidential campaign. That Ayers was given such an opportunity by the Times seems extraordinary; Barack Obama’s other mentors, former pastor Jeremiah Wright and Father Michael Pfleger, were subjected to as much public scrutiny as Ayers for their extremist politics and multi-decade associations with the president-elect, and yet it seems only Ayers was presented editorial space in the Times to defend himself. Perhaps even more extraordinary, however, is that the...

From 24/7 Wall St - based upon background and financials, ten major companies predicted to go away in 2009. Number 6 on the list? The New York Times. h/t An email from Pundita: 24/7 Wall St. looked at some of the largest and most well-known companies, reviewed their SEC filings if they are public, analyst reports, and media observations about their businesses and picked ten that probably won’t be around at the end of next year. 6) The New York Times (NYT) has to repay $400 million in debt in the first half of 2009. It does not have the...

NEW YORK -- The New York Times admitted Monday it published a fake letter purportedly from the mayor of Paris criticizing Caroline Kennedy's bid for a U.S. Senate seat as "appalling" and "not very democratic." In a note posted Monday on its Web site, the Times said the letter signed by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe was a fake and should not have been published because it violated the paper's standards and procedures for publishing signed letters.

New York Times Pulls Punches On Wall Street Bubble Era Pay Why is no one willing to call things by their proper names, and instead resort to euphemism and double-speak? A New York Times story today, "On Wall Street, Bonuses, Not Profits, Were Real," makes its most important point in its headline, and managed to get some good data points on how rich investment bank compensation was in the peak years, but otherwise glosses over the fundamental nature of what went on. It was looting, and it is high time the media starts describing it in those terms. Let us...

Thomas M. Tamm was entrusted with some of the government's most important secrets. He had a Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance, a level above Top Secret. Government agents had probed Tamm's background, his friends and associates, and determined him trustworthy. It's easy to see why: he comes from a family of high-ranking FBI officials. During his childhood, he played under the desk of J. Edgar Hoover, and as an adult, he enjoyed a long and successful career as a prosecutor. Now gray-haired, 56 and fighting a paunch, Tamm prides himself on his personal rectitude. He has what his 23-year-old son,...

An article in yesterday’s New York Times by Public Editor Clark Hoyt, “Separating the Terror and the Terrorists,” is a nauseating example of the paper’s moral relativism applied to the war on terrorism. Hoyt tries to rationalize The Times’ reluctance to apply the “terrorist” label to people who take hostages, blow up bystanders and shoot 5-year-old girls in their beds. Hoyt admits “The Times is sparing in its use of ‘terrorist’” when reporting on Palestinian atrocities. In an effort to be even-handed, the paper has decided to call the murder of Jews inside the 1948 boundaries of Israel “terrorist,” but...

In today's column, the New York Times' Public Editor, Clark Hoyt, examines the paper's use (or non-use) of the words "terrorist" and "terrorism." It's a revealing exercise: "WHEN 10 young men in an inflatable lifeboat came ashore in Mumbai last month and went on a rampage with machine guns and grenades, taking hostages, setting fires and murdering men, women and children, they were initially described in The Times by many labels." "They were "militants," "gunmen," "attackers" and "assailants." Their actions, which left bodies strewn in the city's largest train station, five-star hotels, a Jewish center, a cafe and a hospital...

TIMES PINCHES STAFF SALARIES By KEITH J. KELLY December 13, 2008 -- New York Times Publisher Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger Jr. yesterday said he is freezing salaries for all non-unionized employees through 2009. Separately, the company has sacked the three nighttime DJs at WQXR-FM, the Times-owned classical-music radio station in New York City. As a result, the gaps between songs will now be filled with recordings that direct listeners to the station's Web site for more information. The cutbacks and salary freezes are the latest sign that the New York Times Co. expects a difficult slog well into next year. The...

The New York Times does a delicate spin trying to explain why it has to take out a second mortgage, and owes $400 million....

The New York Times’ financial woes continue to mount, and that’s good news for America. To offset shrinking revenues, the paper plans to borrow $225 million by mortgaging its 52-story Manhattan headquarters. This should be a cause for celebration for patriots everywhere. The company’s stock lost half its value this year. According to the December 9 Financial Times, “advertising revenue at the paper fell sharply in November.” The Times owes $400 million on two revolving lines of credit. Analysts believe mortgaging its building is the only way to secure the capital it needs for 2009, which is expected to be...

The unlicensed pipe fitter known as Joe the Plumber is out with a book this month, just as the last seconds on his 15 minutes are slipping away. I have a question for Joe: Do you want me to fix your leaky toilet? I didn’t think so. And I don’t want you writing books. Not when too many good novelists remain unpublished. Not when too many extraordinary histories remain unread. Not when too many riveting memoirs are kicked back at authors after 10 years of toil. Not when voices in Iran, North Korea or China struggle to get past a...

The New York Times is considering potential asset sales and is in discussions with lenders as it prepares for sharply curtailed advertising spending across the media sector in 2009. Advertising revenue fell sharply at the paper in November as consumer confidence plunged. Entertainment, property and automotive advertising categories were among the worst hit. “There is no doubt that 2009 will be among the most challenging years we have faced and more steps will be needed,” Janet Robinson, chief executive of the company, said in a statement. Executives did not specify which assets were under review for potential sales. However, company...

It couldn't have been easy for Bill Ayers to keep quiet while the McCain campaign tarred him as the Obama's best friend, the terrorist. Unfortunately, the silence was too good to last. On Saturday's New York Times op-ed page, he announced that "it's finally time to tell my true story." Like his memoir, Fugitive Days , "The Real Bill Ayers" is a sentimentalized, self-justifying whitewash of his role in the weirdo violent fringe of the 1960s-70s antiwar left. "I never killed or injured anyone, "Ayers writes. "In 1970, I co-founded the Weather Underground, an organization that was created after an...

House Panel to Ask for NSA Spying Probe A congressional panel will ask the National Security Agency's internal watchdog to investigate whether the super-secret spy agency eavesdropped without warrants on a Muslim scholar and later hid that evidence in a 2005 terror prosecution that got him a life sentence.The House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel and the judge overseeing the case want the NSA's inspector general to find out if the government failed to disclose evidence that might have cleared the name of a Northern Virginia spiritual leader Ali al-Timimi, Rep. Rush Holt (D- New Jersey) told the New York Times.That...

The New York Times Company plans to borrow up to $225 million against its mid-Manhattan headquarters building, to ease a potential cash flow squeeze as the company grapples with tighter credit and shrinking profits. The company has retained Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate firm, to act as its agent to secure financing, either in the form of a mortgage or a sale-leaseback arrangement, said James Follo, the Times Company's chief financial officer.

World Socialist Web Site Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) wsws.org New York Times bares Obama’s campaign lies on Iraq war 6 December 2008 In an article buried on page 35 of its main news section, the New York Times Thursday provided a candid analysis of the glaring contradiction between the antiwar sentiments to which Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama appealed in the run-up to the November election and the actual policies that President-elect Obama is preparing to implement come January.The article, written by Times Pentagon correspondent Thom Shanker, is entitled "Campaign promises on ending...

In the social circles of the New York Times editorialists, it's OK to have one kid. Two is pushing the envelope. Three or more is tacky, and a threat to the survival of the planet. That being so, there's really no reason to let any car bigger than a Prius be built. Doing so just encourages the unenlightened to overbreed. And so it is that in its editorial of today, the Grey-but-barren Lady suggests that as a condition of the Detroit bailout, "Congress could consider demanding that Detroit simply phase out S.U.V.’s and vans by a certain date."

Andrew Rosenthal, editorial page editor of the New York Times, moonlights as a standup comic. Rosenthal recently told the annual conference of the Association of National Advertisers that his paper "aims to ensure opinion and news are kept separate, even as the Internet increasingly blurs the lines," the Oct. 17 edition of Advertising Age reported. Stop, you're killing me. The New York Times is to objectivity what Jack the Ripper was to women's rights. If the Times strives to keep reporting and commentary separate, you and I aren't the only ones who've missed it. Earlier this year, a Rasmussen Reports...

Americans have watched in horror as President Bush has trampled on the Bill of Rights and the balance of power. The list of abuses that President-elect Barack Obama must address is long: once again require the government to get warrants to eavesdrop on Americans; undo scores of executive orders and bill-signing statements that have undermined the powers of Congress; strip out the unnecessary invasions of privacy embedded in the Patriot Act; block new F.B.I. investigative guidelines straight out of J. Edgar Hoover’s playbook. Those are not the only disasters Mr. Obama will inherit. He will have to rescue a drowning...

Gail Collins Thanksgiving is next week, and President Bush could make it a really special holiday by resigning. Seriously. We have an economy that’s crashing and a vacuum at the top. Bush — who is currently on a trip to Peru to meet with Asian leaders who no longer care what he thinks — hasn’t got the clout, or possibly even the energy, to do anything useful. His most recent contribution to resolving the fiscal crisis was lecturing representatives of the world’s most important economies on the glories of free-market capitalism. Putting Barack Obama in charge immediately isn’t impossible. Dick...

New York Times Co. shares tumble to new low By David B. Wilkerson, MarketWatch Last update: 4:06 p.m. EST Nov. 21, 2008 Comments: 48 CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- New York Times Co. shares fell sharply Friday after the company cut its quarterly dividend by 74% and indicated there would be no immediate turnaround to a steep decline in advertising revenue. New York Times Co. ( NYT 5.34, -0.38, -6.6%) stock fell 7% to close at $5.32. The stock hit a new 52-week low of $4.95 during the session. New York Times Co. said late Thursday that it has slashed its quarterly...

Electronic devices dislike me. There is never a day when something isn’t ailing. Three out of these five implements — answering machine, fax machine, printer, phone and electric can-opener — all dropped dead on me in the past few days. Now something has gone wrong with all three television sets. They will get only Sarah Palin.

Buried in a story in today’s New York Times is a fantastic notion - which is nevertheless entirely consistent with The Times’ worldview - that Obama’s win was a psychological defeat for terrorism. The story is about a tape released by Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden’s chief lieutenant, who referred to President-elect Obama as a “house Negro.” The article suggests that Al Qaeda is lashing out. The Times claims, “American antiterrorism officials and other experts dismissed the video as a desperate tactic by a terrorist group that suffered a defeat in the global war of ideas with Mr. Obama’s election”...

HORRIBLE day in the Market! HORRIBLE! Yet, you can hold your chin up and crack a small smile. The old Grey Lady, New York Times, the most dispicable piece of liberal trash being published today, finished the trading session at its lowest price ever. NYT is under $6.00! LOL! Good riddance to bad rubbish!

Scholars and Rogues has a very interesting and in-depth look at the shape the NYT company is in. It's not particularly good. In fact, it is fairly critical. It must deliver $400 million to lenders in May of 2009. Unfortunately it is in no real shape to do that... Its credit rating has been reduced to "junk" and its once well performing stock is in the toilet. the Democrats, given how important the NYT has been to them lately, might not see the paper as "too big to fail".

Sarah Palin represents a huge historic leap forward for women.(snip)But Sarah Palin can come across as utterly unready to lead the world — or even find the world on a map — and that doesn’t reflect poorly on the rest of us.It only means that she doesn’t have enough mind grapes or thoughtsicles, as Tracy Morgan refers to brain droppings on “30 Rock,” to be president soon.

A group of liberal pranksters showed what you can do with some time, some people and some money. They created a fake issue of the New York Times with a four-colum wide headline that blares "Iraq War Ends." . . . In an elaborate hoax, pranksters distributed thousands of free copies of a spoof edition of The New York Times on Wednesday morning at busy subway stations around the city, . . . The spurious 14-page papers -- with a headline "IRAQ WAR ENDS" -- surprised commuters, many of whom took the free copies thinking they were legitimate.