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December 18, 2005
Letter To The New Republic
To The Editors,
In "Bad News", Franklin Foer warns against a vast left wing conspiracy of bloggers hell bent on 'savaging' newspapers such as the NY Times and Washington Post -- papers whose objectivity, writes Foer, is an essential bulwark against the right's alliance with business and mastery of partisan media.
Yes, Foer acknowledges in Rumsfeldian terms, there have been some 'bad apples' at the 'papers of record'. Still, he excitedly exclaims, absent (real?) journalists writing 'without fear or favor', the rest of us will remain clueless about critical events with "a strong basis in fact'.
One can almost see Jimmy Olson's gratitude to Foer, our very own Clark Kent out there protecting truth (I mean 'objectivity'!), justice, and the American free press from the evils of the Internet!
There is one tiny problem though. It's found on the very next page of The New Republic in a piece contrasting a meaty proposal by four Congressmen worried about the Republican culture of corruption with House Speaker Hastert's useless concept about training legislators in the 'nuances of House rules."
Both proposals have 'a strong basis in fact'.
Only Hastert's was printed by The New York Times.
Bad news, indeed.
Sincerely,
Douglas K. Smith
