NY Times Editor: We Love Our Country 'Just As Much As Anyone Else'

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By Tim Graham (Bio | Archive)
July 11, 2009 - 22:15 ET
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Time magazine’s July 20 edition includes a “Ten Questions” interview with New York Times executive editor Bill Keller, and he took on hardballs from the left and right. But he was willing to admit to the left that the Times was soft on Bush before the Iraq War (“we floated along with the conventional wisdom”) but objected to suggestions that the Times isn’t patriotic (“Journalists at the Times love their country just as much as anybody else.”)

The first question out of the box slammed away at media softness on Bush:

Why do you think the press gave the Bush Administration a free pass on the misleading statements it made to get us into the war in Iraq? Randal Davis, PORTLAND, ORE.

It was partly the insatiable desire for scoops people in the Administration were feeding about the potential threat in Iraq. But a lot of it was just that we floated along with the conventional wisdom, the worst enemy of journalism.

The juiciest question compared the Times revealing (and ruining) anti-terrorist programs with keeping mum to protect its own reporters. On the Time video, questioner Belinda Luscombe described it as “kinda feisty” before reading it:

The Times had no problem leaking state secrets, claiming the truth required that they be published. Yet it had no qualms lying about the kidnapping of one of its reporters to protect his safety. What is the difference? Bob Dame CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.

The fact is, we sometimes withhold information from print either because we're convinced that publishing it would put lives at risk or to protect national security. We've done that not only in the case of [kidnapped reporter] David Rohde but other kidnappings as well. We've done it in the case of state secrets. But we can't surrender to the government all the decision-making power.

Then came another question that’s common the left, popular with the Arianna Huffingtons of the world, who think that certain ridiculous conservative ideas shouldn’t be allowed to balance rational liberal maxims, like the dire threat of global warming:

Should journalists strive to present ideas as balanced, regardless of the actual credibility of either side? Jonathan Silver, PHILADELPHIA

I don't think fairness means that you give equal time to every point of view no matter how marginal. You weigh the sides, you do some truth-testing, you apply judgment to them. We don't treat creationism as science. Likewise in the autism-vaccine debate, our reporting shows pretty clearly which side the science is on.

The last hardball from the right was blunt:

Why is the Times so anti-American? Jim Main, ORLANDO, FLA.

Journalists at the Times love their country just as much as anybody else. We don't see it as our job to be a cheerleader for everything America does.

Keller didn’t address whether it was easier to feel warmly about your country when your liberal friends are the ones running the White House and Capitol Hill.

—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.


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Oh that Keller...doesn't he

July 11, 2009 - 22:20 ET by bigtimer

Oh that Keller...doesn't he make you feel so warm and fuzzy all over?

Two words for his answers that are nothing but pure lyin' spin...

Bull Sh!t.

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart

Notice Keller didn't mention

July 12, 2009 - 12:55 ET by d1carter

Notice Keller didn't mention which country he was referring to...

d1... ...hehe...now

July 12, 2009 - 13:11 ET by bigtimer

d1...

...hehe...now that's a good point you have there.

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart

Bill Keller does "Michael Malone"

July 12, 2009 - 16:50 ET by hoystory

From "An American Carol":

Michael Malone: I love America. That's why it has to be destroyed. So that it can come to its senses. 

What misleading statements

July 11, 2009 - 22:38 ET by RR GOP

What misleading statements about Iraq?

They've sold off the uranium ore to Canada, they've found hundreds of chemical munitions, and there are still those suspicious bio labs you don't hear about anymore, oh and there were Al-Qaeda training in Iraq.  No one still knows for sure what was sent off to Syria, but pretty odd that Israel recently took out a nuke facility...though not even the conservative press made too much of this.

One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).

Bill Keller - Nooo... you love yourself more than your country!

July 11, 2009 - 22:49 ET by Gary Hall

Q - Why do you think the press gave the Bush Administration a free pass on the misleading statements it made to get us into the war in Iraq? Randal Davis, PORTLAND, ORE.

A - It was partly the insatiable desire for scoops people in the Administration were feeding about the potential threat in Iraq. But a lot of it was just that we floated along with the conventional wisdom, the worst enemy of journalism.

Rebuttal A - Well if you know how to read, then you clearly know that we gave him a darn difficult time on the WMD issue. You must have got your administrations mixed up. We gave Clinton and his team a pass - but why did we do that???:

Nov. 26, 1997, The Washington Times
Cohen details threats posed by Baghdad
..Iraq has secretly stockpiled enough deadly poison gas to kill everyone on Earth despite nearly seven years of international inspections, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said yesterday.

Pres. Clinton in 1998
"Earlier today, I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors.

July 22, 2003 Former President Bill Clinton
“Let me tell you what I know. When I left office, there was a substantial amount of biological and chemical material unaccounted for. That is, at the end of the first Gulf War, we knew what he had.”.. it is incontestable that on the day I left office, there were unaccounted for stocks.. of biological and chemical weapons.”

“I am absolutely convinced that there are weapons...I saw evidence back in 1998 when we would see the inspectors being barred from gaining entry into a warehouse for three hours with trucks rolling up and then moving those trucks out." -- Clinton's Secretary of Defense William Cohen in April of 2003

Sen. John Edwards -- “I think Iraq and Saddam Hussein present the most serious and most imminent threat.”

Wesley Clark -Sept 26, 2002"There's no question that Saddam Hussein is a threat... Yes, he has chemical and biological weapons. He's had those for a long time. But the United States right now is on a very much different defensive posture than we were before September 11th of 2001... He is, as far as we know, actively pursuing nuclear capabilities, though he doesn't have nuclear warheads yet. If he were to acquire nuclear weapons, I think our friends in the region would face greatly increased risks as would we."

'Hardball with Chris Matthews' Nov. 7, 2005
Senator Carl Levin (D) of Michigan, member of the Intelligence Committee

..look there was plenty of evidence that Saddam had nuclear weapons, by the way.  That is not in dispute.  There is plenty of evidence of that..

The answer, Mr. Keller, is why in the world did anyone in the media give President Bush a hard time on the question of WMD's when there was a theater of support out there from the Demcratic side of the isle - on the issue.

(;~/ gary

RR & Gary.... Excellent

July 11, 2009 - 22:57 ET by bigtimer

RR & Gary....

Excellent info...I agree with both of you, and have posted as such over the years... glad you have this out here it is past infuriating when it comes to the enemy within...and he is one of the biggest news print whores there are.

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart

Dems and WMD

July 11, 2009 - 23:53 ET by metaphorsbwithu

Add to that list:

Al Gore
Madeline Albright
Sandy Berger
Tom Daschele
Carl Levin
John Kerry
Nancy Pelosi
Hillary Clinton
Bob Graham
Ted Kennedy
Robert Byrd
Jay Rockefeller
Henry Waxman

and other Democrats who believed (with absolute certainty), even before George W. Bush took office, that Saddam possessed and would use WMD.

The NYT did not give President Bush a "pass". It was just going along with the conventional wisdom.

After all, wasn't the "debate" over?

metaphorsbwithu

This tripe is what made me

July 11, 2009 - 22:52 ET by bigtimer

This tripe is what made me the angriest of all...

 
The Times had no problem
leaking state secrets, claiming the truth required that they be
published. Yet it had no qualms lying about the kidnapping of one of
its reporters to protect his safety. What is the difference? Bob Dame CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.


The fact is, we sometimes withhold information
from print either because we're convinced that publishing it would put
lives at risk or to protect national security. We've done that not only
in the case of [kidnapped reporter] David Rohde but other kidnappings
as well. We've done it in the case of state secrets. But we can't
surrender to the government all the decision-making power.

As if our military wasn't in any danger when they released classified info on their front pages and should have been tried for treason as far as I am concerned since this was during a time of war....give me a break!

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart

missed some

July 11, 2009 - 23:48 ET by m1xram

They didn't read my question...

Do you think you should be shot for treason after giving aid and comfort to our enemies?

Wait wait wait, got another one...

Do you think the 50,000 dead Kurds, gassed with chemical agents, implied the presence of WMDs?

 

He has already failed... his country.

My question

July 12, 2009 - 01:15 ET by well99

"Journalists at the Times love their country just as much as anybody else. We don't see it as our job to be a cheerleader for everything America does."

Which country are you talking about Comrade Bill?It sure isnt the USA.

w99... Well, we know they

July 12, 2009 - 01:24 ET by bigtimer

w99...

Well, we know they adore Chavez, maybe they want a warmer climate.

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart

BT

July 12, 2009 - 01:44 ET by well99

I think your right.They will fit in with that windbag.

w99.... Yep...let 'em

July 12, 2009 - 01:53 ET by bigtimer

w99....

Yep...let 'em blow in his wind.

...see how far they get there.

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart

Chavez

July 12, 2009 - 02:37 ET by well99

Will probably put them in a work camp.Maybe they will learn a useful skill.Nah they are too stupid.

I think

July 12, 2009 - 06:28 ET by jacktheripper

he meant to say "Journalists AT TIMES love their country"...not journalists at THE Times

 

 

 

 

"I LOVE DEAD KENNEDY'S"

Keller has every reason to

July 12, 2009 - 06:06 ET by Andrew H.

Keller has every reason to continue the lie, "love our country as much as anyone else."

One look at his employee roster tells the tale.  Leftward hate, ho!

One read of his employees is all it takes to know where the Times stands on truthfullness and objectivity.  "Global warming."

The lesson, dear one, is to not buy the rag.  

Liberalism is a convenient lie.

They love their country now

July 12, 2009 - 09:35 ET by wiwf

They love their country now that obama is in power. Shocka

The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Illustrating Idiocy

"We don't treat creationism

July 12, 2009 - 09:37 ET by nolotrippen

"We don't treat creationism as science." Which means they treat it how? Probably never mention it, right? Wrong, it is mentioned, and condescendingly.

Keller wouldn't last two minutes in a debate with a creation scientist. Though it is a smackdown I'd like to see.

I would not trust the NYT

July 12, 2009 - 09:56 ET by trhug

I would not trust the NYT to correctly publish my weight or shoe size. These people can and regularly lie , by not printing truth. Their credo is "Truth is what I say it is." If and when these people go out of business , news reporting will be MUCH better.

 

 

T.R. H.

Keller, the media in general

July 12, 2009 - 10:06 ET by nadadhimmi

Keller, the media in general hate America. Period

Yeah, well the Bolsheviks

July 12, 2009 - 16:34 ET by Chris Norman

Yeah, well the Bolsheviks loved Russia and the Nazis loved Germany - so what does love have to do with it - do with it? 

The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.

- so what does love have

July 12, 2009 - 16:41 ET by bigtimer

- so what does love have to do with it - do with it? 

You're on a roll today...I just got done laughing from your last post...and here I go again.

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart

bt, I should've written,

July 12, 2009 - 16:54 ET by Chris Norman

bt,

I should've written, "What's love got to do with it, do with it? I just latched on to those last words I had all ready typed. I'm channeling my frustrations and anger into humor today. My new operating philosophy is "a smile's just a frown turned upside down". :)(

The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.

LMAO... That's it....I

July 12, 2009 - 17:00 ET by bigtimer

LMAO...

That's it....I can't take anymore!

Just kidding, it's nice to have laughter on a beautiful Sunday afternoon...well so far anyway, we are suppose to get thunder showers later.

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart

Possibly due to the

July 12, 2009 - 17:05 ET by Chris Norman

Possibly due to the proximity of my brother, it's hotter than hell here today. I'm happy to provide some levity. I'm sliding out now. Take care.

The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.

Have a good one...catch ya

July 12, 2009 - 17:09 ET by bigtimer

Have a good one...catch ya later.

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart

needs disambiguation

July 12, 2009 - 21:57 ET by kono

Keller claimed, "Journalists at the Times love their country just as much as anybody else."

Oh yeah, Keller?  Name one of those anybody-elses.  They love their country as much as Jeremiah Wright?  As much as William Ayers? Then again, which country do your journalists consider theirs?  Maybe they all love Guinea-Bissau, for all we know.

The New York Times is a damnable waste of ink and newsprint. And Keller can kiss Michael Moore's butt.