Red-faced New York Post chooses wrong running-mate

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | July 7, 2004 - 12:08AM

[dead]

The tabloid New York Post was wiping egg from its face yesterday after identifying the wrong man in a front-page "exclusive" on Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's choice of running mate.

"Kerry's Choice" ran the banner headline in the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper, over a file photo of Kerry shaking hands with Congressman Richard Gephardt of Missouri.

The accompanying story analysed the "stunning" choice of Gephardt, stressing how the 63-year-old had managed to beat out the strong challenge of the youthful Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

But Kerry announced yesterday morning that he had actually chosen Edwards for his vice presidential candidate.

The newspaper's online edition further confused the issue by continuing to run the erroneous print version of the story next to a "breaking news" link declaring that Edwards would be the running mate.

The mistake meant that the Post, which has never shied away from highlighting the errors of its rivals, was forced to swallow some of its own medicine.

The CNN network gleefully showed off the Post front page, pointing out that Murdoch's News Corp, also owned CNN rival Fox News.

On its inside pages, the Post compounded its mistake with an analysis of what it believed to be Kerry's choice, saying Gephardt would be an asset to Kerry in key battleground states in the Midwest.

It also underlined Edwards' lack of experience as one of the main reasons why he had been passed over.

AFP

[Alberta's Child]

They got played like amateurs because that's exactly what they are. We may like their conservative slant on many issues, but the reality is that the NY Post is really just a crappy rag aimed at readers with a fifth-grade education.

[dead]

The NY Post has one of the three or four best editorial pages in the country.

[js1138]

Kind of a sly way to dig at the actual choice by running an article stating all the reasons he won't be chosen.

[drjimmy]

Last I checked, the Post & Fox News had never been in bed with a murderous dictator.

You need to check a little closer, like this piece on Post/Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch and his son from the Wall Street Journal. Murdoch is all about making money, and while there is nothing inherently wrong with that, people should understand that Murdoch and his media outlets are only pro-American so long as that makes them a profit.

[TN4Liberty]

I suspect Deborah Orin, based on her boneheaded history.

Wouldn't it be interesting if the Post ran a column 'outing' the dem(s) who gave them the lie to publish? If the story has sources (which is surely did... surely), it is the source, not the Post, who lied.

[Damocles]

Check out this screen shot of the Post on-line.  Talk about confused...

[drjimmy]

Murdoch was editor and owner of the very conservative Times of London and Sunday Times prior to any US ventures.

Murdoch bought Britain's News of the World and Sun newspapers--conservative publications perhaps but with lots of pictures of naked ladies in them--in the early 1970s. He bought his first American newspaper in 1973, and the New York Post in 1976. He didn't buy the Times of London and Sunday Times until 1981.

I don't think the sincerity of their committment to conservative principles and America's primary role in preserving and defending them world-wide can be seriously questioned -- even for profit.
Did you read the article? It comes from the very conservative Wall Street Journal and it has facts that call into question the very thing you say cannot be questioned. To take just one small additional example, do you think the global warming movie The Day After Tomorrow promotes conservative, pro-American principles? Guess who's company is making millions off that movie!

[Feiny]

What was on your front page?

[Graymatter]

Kerry did say he was going to "have some fun" today. Maybe this is what he meant.

[smonk]

if it was an intentional diversion, kerry may find out that
it's not really very smart to make enemies in the media, even
if it is a murdoch-owned tabloid.

newsies sorta stick together; lying to one of them is
severely frowned upon.

[Condor51]

How about this scenario... (tin foil hat time)

Kerry actually DID pick Gephardt yesterday and it was leaked to the Post.

However Kerry had to also inform Terry McAwful of his decision and Terry then immediately 'dropped a dime' to "The Beast" and SHE said "no way", it has to be the Breck Girl so he looses and she's safe for '08.

McAwful then calls Kerry back and informs him it better be Edwards or else he'd be 'Fosterized', Kerry then flops on his pick. Ergo NY Post gets it wrong.

Works for me :-)

[Ciexyz]

tee hee

[AnnaZ]

...the NY Post is really just a crappy rag aimed at readers with a fifth-grade education.

You sound like a Times reader (used to be one myself...). But now I absolutely love, love, love the Post. It makes me happy.

[Alberta's Child]

I despise the Post.

I vowed never to read that newspaper again after that day in early April when something like 10-15 U.S. military and civilian personnel were killed in Iraq at the beginning of the Fallujah uprising . . . and the lead story on the front page of the NY Post the following day was from the baseball game at Shea Stadium the night before.

I can handle a newspaper with political leanings one way or another, but I absolutely despise one that is so clearly a propaganda rag that it can't even pretend to be objective anymore.

And I stopped reading the NY Times about ten years ago, too.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Aren't they both Newscorp companies?

[M007]

Poor Gephardt gets B*tch slapped by the democraps again.

He used to be pro-life but had to sell his soul for the democruds and all they do is kick him around.

Gephardt has become the urinal of the dumbocrud party.

[AnnaZ]

-- and I do indeed remember that blizzard in the early '90s that left NYC was under 4 ft of snow (rather than 50 ft in the movie). It was fun. I skiied to work in Midtown from the Upper East Side for 3 days.

It was the winter of '93-94... Park Avenue was nothing but car antennas poking through "moguls". Hilarious. A week later and Broadway was still under three feet of slush.

 

I spent the following January/February in South Beach I was so freaked by it (but alas! Manhattan didn't even get a flurry).

[AnnaZ]

Well, perhaps having had to deal with the Los Angeles Times for years has made me loopy. The Post makes me smile. Maybe it's the propaganda. Maybe it's the full-page pics of Jeter.