Posted on 06/19/2004 6:35:10 PM PDT by wagglebee
Perception verses reality – it's a point that needs to be made until the cows come home.
Did you know that on Tuesday of this week Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, addressed a joint session of Congress? Did you know that not one word of that address, nor even any mention that the event even occurred, appeared in the following day's national edition of the New York Times?
Aide from a photograph of President Bush and Mr. Karzai on its front page, and a caption mentioning that the two had a news conference in the Rose Garden, the June 16 edition of the New York Times contains not a single word about what Mr. Karzai said to Congress, to Bush or to the American people.
Why the cover up?
Here is the text of Mr. Karzai's address to Congress. If you actually click on that link, you'll find that you must pay a subscription fee to read the full text of the speech. That link, by the way, was only one of three links on Google News regarding Karzai's appearance before Congress. The other two were this abbreviated AP wire story and this pitiful UPI wire story. [Editor's note: Karzai's speech in full is posted at Foxnews.com.]
I could not find any coverage in print of the long list of issues President Karzai took special care to raise about the progress in Afghanistan – 30 percent growth in the Afghan economy, dramatic progress in the country's infrastructure, schools, health-care system and most important, in Karzai's view, the outstanding progress the country has made in restoring basic civil rights to women.
How did I learn all of this? I just happened to catch Fox News's live coverage of the president's press conference; otherwise, I would never have known about Karzai's address to Congress. And I consider myself a news junky!
The New York Times' treatment of Karzai's visit is not the tip of the iceberg – it's the larger part of the iceberg, the part beneath the water that the public never gets to see.
Also lying beneath the surface, virtually unseen, is one of the greatest economic booms we've seen in 30 years. But a recent poll shows just how that reality has diverged from public perception of reality. According to a recent survey sponsored by the Associated Press, 57 percent of the public believe the nation has lost jobs in the last six months. That's the perception. What's the reality? Exactly the opposite! During the last six months, the economy generated nearly 1.2 million new jobs.
How could the American people be so misinformed?
The Times typically relegates good economic news to the inside of its business section, almost always using a wire story, rarely assigning any of its own reporters. They made an exception when the extraordinarily strong May payroll numbers came in: The story appeared on the front page, but only under a one-column headline.
Compare that to the four-column headline appearing Thursday, "Panel Finds No Qaida-Iraq Tie," a story which is being widely criticized as a complete distortion of the facts. The Bush administration never claimed that Iraq was directly involved in the 9-11 attacks, but there were "clear ties" – not "no ties" – between al-Qaida and Iraq before we took military action against Saddam Hussein. The Times reported the exact opposite of the truth in its banner headline.
How could the American people be so misinformed?
It's a question that the New York Times and editorial boards across this country have a responsibility to ask themselves. Where is Times's public editor, Daniel Okrent, when you need him?
Please change the source for this story to WorldNetDaily ASAP. I made a huge mistake. Sorry.
Thanks, I'll be more careful next time.
I am ashamed to say I did not know karzai addressed our congress. How ridiculous that our media didn't have more to say about it.
You know this situation isn't all that new...decades ago someone wrote an exposé on the paper: All the News that's Fit to Print.
Oh yeah, did I mention the FreeRepublic?
Preparing an apology for the Times' front page story about the good economic news---saying it should have been relegated to the inside of the business section using a wire service report.
He will be up all weekend writing an apology for this
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/books/20CLIN.html?ei=5006&en=b1de08dbc243a997&ex=1088308800&partner=ALTAVISTA1&pagewanted=print&position=
And I promise you a lot of heads will roll over this.
http://www.bugmenot.com/
Bypass Compulsory Web Registration
Works Great!(Don't know about "pay subscription")
Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai Address to Joint Meeting of Congress Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, comes to Capitol Hill to make an address to a joint meeting of Congress. 6/15/2004: WASHINGTON, DC: 30 min.
Pres. Bush & Pres. Karzai Press Conference On the White House lawn, President Bush and Afghan President Karzai discuss U.S.-Afghanistan relations, terrorism, and answer questions from the press. 6/15/2004: WASHINGTON, DC: 30 min.
Pres. Karzai, Sec. Evans, & USAID Admin. Natsios on the Future of Afghanistan Afghan Pres. Karzai, Commerce Sec. Evans, USAID Admin. Natsios, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Board Vice Chair Maura Donohue discuss the future of Afghanistan in terms of business investment and development. 6/14/2004: WASHINGTON, DC: 1 hr.
The people at the NYT are despicable weenies. I suppose detestable people such as Frank Rich and Ms. Dowd really are what are there. I cannot believe what they write and would --it's actually unreadable. Both are schoolgirls who have not matured---and I do realize what I am saying.
Lots of good things happening in Afghanistan. It is totally a whole new country now.
The left is actually cracking up. Maybe what will really happen is that the party will be destroyed. I know that sounds funny now, but their candidate is so underwhelming that he is actually capable of gigantic goofs or angry raves--once the heat of the election season starts. I can see Kerry rying a Gore-like stunt at a debae and it turning off millions. If only......
Compare that to the four-column headline appearing Thursday, "Panel Finds No Qaida-Iraq Tie," a story which is being widely criticized as a complete distortion of the facts.More importantly, why would a commission formed to examine 9-11 be considered a source for comprehensive review of an overall Iraq/al Qaeda relationship? It would be like having a podiatrist diagnose your brain tumor.
The Slimes is really out there on thin ice on this one.
It doesn't sound funny at all, and I had been hoping for it: the Rinos and the better Dems joining together as the left party--kind of a JFKennedy resurrection; the Greens and the outright Communists forming a 5-15% fringe party to snarl in a psychotic fit of rage and envy, but unable to harm the country; and the Conservatives, libertarians, Constitutionists, etc. in the vast majority.
Unfortunately, when something is destroyed, we can't always predict what will replace it. I hate to say this, but I've been wondering if the Clintons actually planned to destroy their party. Certainly they couldn't have hurt it more if they had intended it.
I'm a little worried about the fact that they've constructed a shadow financial/power structure--Soros/Moveon.org and Ickes has also built up a parallel structure almost unobserved. Why would they have to do that when they have absolute control of the DNC through Terry the Terrible? But they have done it.
I shudder to think what their vision of a new order would be. Certainly it would NOT be a republic and probably not even a democracy (unless they could fake it with totally controlled touch screen voting or something like that).
Fortunately, they can't be certain of what would follow the disintegration of such a major force either. It could end up with them doing the Mussolini pinata thing and the return of a Constitutional Republic for us.
Wasn't only the NYSlimes. I didn't know he addressed Congress either--so it didn't play on our TV stations in Houston or in the Chronicle.
They did show the Rose Garden for about 15 seconds--but it was all on Bush's reply to a question--nothing from the visiting head of state.
If you are going to post a story that relies on links to make its point, it is helpful to include the links.Here is the text of Mr. Karzai's address to Congress. If you actually click on that link, you'll find that you must pay a subscription fee to read the full text of the speech. That link, by the way, was only one of three links on Google News regarding Karzai's appearance before Congress. The other two were this abbreviated AP wire story and this pitiful UPI wire story. [Editor's note: Karzai's speech in full is posted at Foxnews.com.]
Sorry I missed it, thanks for the correction.
Perhaps he should have worn panties on his head while giving the speech.
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