On Sunday, in its magazine section The New York Times today offered what it calls the backstory on its publication of the stolen WikiLeaks documents. It includes the intriguing fact that the White House didn't try very hard to deter publication, but the report by executive editor Bill Keller mostly reads like house propaganda and a Pulitzer application.
There is a laugh-out-loud moment. It comes when Keller writes that "it is our aim to be impartial in our presentation of the news."
It's hard to imagine he believes that. Certainly nobody else does.
The upshot of Keller's piece, which appears in the magazine section and an e-book, is that you'll have to look elsewhere if you want truth or honest introspection. For that, I recommend "Gray Lady Down," a book that gives the backstory of what has gone wrong at The Times itself.
Author William McGowan has compiled a timely indictment of how the paper lost its way. He catalogs well-known mistakes and the cheerleading and other none-too-subtle ways it puts its thumb on the scales of key stories.
GO HERE to read more.
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