(February 14, 2024 at 2:44 pm)Nanny Wrote:(February 13, 2024 at 1:53 pm)Belacqua Wrote: The New York Times is mostly a government mouthpiece.
That is all I need to read from belacqua to know they're not worth the bother. Pure BS.
I think most people who were paying attention lost confidence in the NYTimes in the run-up to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The Times was a major cheerleader for both wars, echoing and amplifying the arguments made by government people, and ignoring well-informed voices who argued against.
The Times' own chief foreign correspondent warned that the US was in no imminent danger, that there were no WMDs, and that the military was not properly prepared for the complexity of what they were getting themselves into. He was fired for saying so, though he turned out to be correct in every way. The people who said it would be a cakewalk still have their (highly-paid) jobs, and continue to advocate for every possible war that comes along.
There is a trick that Rumsfeld and those guys used. They would give a story to the Times and ask that it be reported without their names attached. The Times would print the story as true or likely to be true, with very sketchy attribution. Then Rumsfeld or Rice or whoever would go on TV, say that the Times is reporting a story that must be acted on, and use that as justification. Since some people still think the Times is a reliable source, it would give them a way to seem credible.
It's not just the Times, of course, though as the "paper of record" they hold a lot of responsibility. Most of the corporate media played along. I remember the New Republic magazine, which once upon a time was considered left-wing, just going crazy for war. And of course they have never apologized. It's still happening.
Beyond the specific dishonest cases, however, there is a deeper issue. Anyone whom the Times will hire is certain to be ideologically on the side of the establishment. Reporting need not be dishonest to carry a spin that's in favor of the corporations and the military/industrial complex.
Recently several media outlets carried a story quoting a politician who said that the US was sending its old stock of weapons to Ukraine so that they could use them up, and this allowed America to buy all new ones. This was reported as a GOOD THING. It was pointed out on more left-wing, anti-war sites that the only people who really benefit from this are the arms manufacturers.
