Assaults on Choice Aren’t News (Here)
Republican state lawmakers introduced more than 500 bills that would restrict abortion rights by mid-May—including some that would charge women who terminated their pregnancies with murder. But from the beginning of the year until May 16, NBC News didn’t once mention these attempts to roll back reproductive freedom. (They came up twice on ABC News, and six times on CBS.)
The New York Times thought attacks on reproductive rights were worth putting on the front page—when they happened in official enemy states like Venezuela (2/21/21, 4/14/21) and China (5/11/21), not in Texas or Oklahoma.
NYT’s ‘Worrisome Trend’ of Ignoring Police Homophobia
When New York City Pride organizers recently decided not to allow organized police contingents in its annual parade, the New York Times editorial board (5/18/21) jumped in to reprimand them, calling the decision “part of a worrisome trend in recent years of Pride organizers who have barred uniformed officers from marching.” The paper acknowledged the ongoing history of police violence against the LGBTQ community—which sparked both the Stonewall Riots that Pride commemorates, and the organizers’ latest decision—but argued that “repairing that relationship, and ensuring the safety of the city’s gay community, isn’t made easier by deepening the divide.”
So how should NYPD violence against LGBTQ people be addressed? Don’t ask the Times editorial board. We searched for editorials upbraiding the NYPD for its treatment of LGBTQ people, and didn’t find a single one—going back at least 40 years. Thanks for watching out for “worrisome trends” for us.
Hiding Violence Behind ‘Both Sides’
“Over 70 Killed as Israel, Palestinians Exchange Worst Violence in Years—and Prepare for More,” NBC (5/12/21) reported. Not until the ninth paragraph did NBC acknowledge how unequal that “exchange” was: At that point, the Israeli military had killed at least 65 people in Gaza, including 16 children, while Hamas rocket fire had killed six Jewish Israelis.
Reuters (5/15/21) took the reluctance to attribute Israeli violence to Israel to new heights with its sidelong headline, “Gaza Tower Housing AP, Al Jazeera Collapses After Missile Strike—Witness.”
It’s Not Sanctions, It’s Just the Sanctions
A May 19 Reuters story noted the human toll of diesel fuel shortages in Venezuela. But lest readers think that a US ban on Venezuela exchanging crude oil for diesel was to blame, the article assured readers: “Critics, and many farmers, say sanctions are not the root cause of the shortages,” noting that the state oil company’s “refining network is operating at a fraction of its capacity, leaving Venezuela—home to the world’s largest crude reserves by some measures-dependent on imported fuel.”
Not mentioned by Reuters: Venezuela’s refining capacity was specifically targeted by a previous round of sanctions (Wall Street Journal, 1/29/19; Venezuelanalysis, 6/7/19).
NYT Thanks Its Most Valuable Source
Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg is responsible for perhaps the New York Times‘ biggest story ever, giving the paper’s Neal Sheehan access to the Pentagon Papers, a secret military history of the Vietnam War that revealed years of official lies. But when Sheehan died, the Times tried to erase Ellsberg’s role: “Contrary to what is generally believed, Mr. Ellsberg never ‘gave’ the papers to the Times,” reporter Janny Scott wrote, citing a hitherto off-the-record interview with Sheehan. (Towards the end of the story, an alert reader would notice a mention that Ellsberg did in fact give Sheehan a copy of the Papers—FAIR.org, 1/14/21.)
On the 50th anniversary of the Papers’ publication, the Times ran an op-ed (6/11/21) that acknowledged that Ellsberg was responsible for bringing them to the public’s attention—but Gabriel Schoenfeld argued that his doing so was “nothing less than an assault on democracy itself.” Because, after all, it was President Richard Nixon—”accountable to the public and checked and balanced by the courts”—who decided to keep the revelation of official lies a secret.
Florida, Covid-19 Leader
When Florida announced it would no longer issue daily reports on coronavirus cases, a spokesperson argued, “Covid-19 cases have significantly decreased over the past year.” The New York Times (6/4/21), reporting this news, echoed the state’s justification, noting, “In the past two weeks, Florida has seen a 43 percent drop in coronavirus cases.”
What the Times didn’t note was that when it moved to weekly reports on Covid, Florida had more average daily cases than any other state-and had the fifth highest rate per capita.
Leave My Billionaire Boss Be
Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle (6/9/21) wrote that it was unfair of ProPublica (6/8/21) to point out that billionaires like her boss, Jeff Bezos, had paid little to nothing in income tax in recent years:
Ordinary Americans don’t pay income tax every time our stock portfolios go up or our homes appreciate a bit. We pay the tax when we sell. Why should American billionaires be different?
McArdle raised a good point: Why should someone like Bezos, whose wealth is greater than the GDP of Qatar, be treated differently than anyone else?
The Landlord’s Paper
“New York Rents Appear Close to Bottom, Turning a Corner”—How the New York Times (6/10/21) reported the news that median Manhattan rent had risen to $3,037 a month.
