NY Times DC Chief Denies 'Liberal' Tag: 'I've Voted for Republicans and Democrats'

http://newsbusters.org/node/10384 ^

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Philip Taubman, Washington bureau chief for The Times, is responding to reader questions in the paper's editions this week.

Among those he addressed this morning is the one below:

Q. Please tell us your voting record for the past ten years. I want to confirm your liberal bias.

--David Owens

A. I'm always amazed at the certitude with which people make assumptions about journalists and their political views. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have voted for Republicans and Democrats over the years. And I published a book in 2003, Secret Empire: Eisenhower, The CIA, and The Hidden Story of America's Space Espionage (Simon & Schuster), that recounts President Eisenhower's critical leadership role in the development of spy satellites and other breakthroughs in military and intelligence technology during his presidency.

Let's analyze Taubman's response. "I'm sorry to disappoint you" implies a denial of the "liberal" accusation. But what is the evidence he offers? First, the fact that "over the years" he has voted for Republicans and Democrats.

But what does that mean? Did Taubman vote for Ronald Reagan, or did he perhaps pull the lever a couple times for a next-door neighbor when she was the GOP candidate for town council? Taubman doesn't tell us, and his failure to do so is telling.

Continuing does the fact that Taubman had kind things to say about a Republican president who served over a half-century ago and did, after all, command Allied forces in WWII, prove anything? Ultimately, of course, Taubman's personal predilections are not nearly so important as the bias reflected in the stories that do and do not appear in the Times' pages. And as is documented week in and week out at NewsBusters and elsewhere, the liberal leanings of the Times coverage is hard to deny. Taubman does not even seek to address it.Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net

[governsleastgovernsbest]

No-bias-at-the-Times ping to Today show list.

[airborne]

Did Taubman vote for Ronald Reagan, or did he perhaps pull the lever a couple times for a next-door neighbor when she was the GOP candidate for town council? Taubman doesn't tell us, and his failure to do so is telling.

I call BS!

[Enduring Freedom]

I've voted to elect Democrats.

I've voted to prosecute Republicans.

Fair and balanced.

[Fierce Allegiance]

You can call a turd a gem, but it still stinks.

[tobyhill]

Which Republican, Chafee, Snowe, Collins, Specter?

[jmaroneps37]

Well I guess that's that. The New York slimes is NOT bias! The older I get, the more I learn!

[Sloth]

I once voted for a Democrat for a local office, because he was running unopposed. I guess I, too, can say "I've voted for both Republicans and Democrats, so that proves I have no ideological bias."

[Always Right]

I'm always amazed at the certitude with which people make assumptions about journalists and their political views. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have voted for Republicans and Democrats over the years.

Voting for Guilliani twice does not count.

[Mo1]

What does publishing a book have to do with voting?

[LibLieSlayer]

Not only does he lie in the pages of the times, he lies while giving interviews! ONCE A LIAR, ALWAYS A LIAR!

ny times: "ALL of the LIES we can think of to print"!

LLS

[aligncare]

Newspapers across the country have editorial boards that lean one way or the other. That is expected. However, the paper's news pages should stick to the 5 W's. The New York Times has long ago lost sight of that journalistic cannon.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

I once voted for a Democrat for a local office, because he was running unopposed.

I would just write in "Bullwinkle."

[Joe Boucher]

Which band had the old song with the line,"liar, liar"?

[mouske]

The Castaways ?

[haywoodwebb]

"Which band had the old song with the line,"liar, liar"?"

Three Dog Night had one.

[Jhensy]

Which band had the old song with the line,"liar, liar"?

The Castaways -- Liar, Liar (1965). From Minnesota. They were all about 16 years old when the song was a smash.

[Arrowhead1952]

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have voted for RINOS and Democrats over the years.

There, fixed it for him.

[Joe Boucher]

Thanks, that was the one I was thinking of.

[moonman]

"Q. Please tell us your voting record for the past ten years." "A. I have voted for Republicans and Democrats over the years."

Did he answer the question? NOPE!