NYT Coverage of "Strange, Alien Species"

So far, it looks like The Blog from the Core called this one right.

Terry Eastland looks at the first month of the New York Times' coverage of the conservative beat, at The Weekly Standard today:

.... In fact, division turns out to be the dominant narrative of the journalism so far. Consider the headlines of the first three stories: "Bush's push for marriage falls short for conservatives," "Conservative groups differ on Bush words on marriage," and "A concerned bloc of Republicans wonders whether Bush is conservative enough."

Moreover, those and other "conservative" stories have proved more than a little strained. The words "conservative" and "conservatives" are used to excess — 24 times in one story — as though to assure readers that the Times is on the conservative beat. And people otherwise not known to be important conservatives turn out to be major, on-the-record sources, no doubt delighted that the Times has reached them. Was the point of actually announcing a "conservative beat" to interest conservatives in becoming sources?....

Sound vaguely familiar? See my When Will NYT Be Assigning a Reporter to "Examine" Liberal "Forces"?

.... I think "what this is about" is playing up as much as possible — if not more — the differences of opinion among various conservative camps, to make it look like the general conservative movement in the country is weaker than it actually is. They will, concomitantly, downplay or ignore the differences between various liberal factions. (Thus ignoring, at their peril, Core's Law of Old Media.) ....

Surely, this kind of cutting-edge punishment punditry is what keeps you coming back to The Blog from the Core. :-)

See also Armavirumque Agrees With The Blog from the Core.

(Thanks, Ryan.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Wed. 03/03/04 05:37:14 PM
Categorized as Media.