Posted on 06/28/2006 11:15:29 AM PDT by dighton
[ed. - Our dilligent dumpster divers on 43rd Street have located the first draft of Bill Keller's patient explanation of the New York Times' ethics policy. Related: In New York, Scrappy Newspaper Struggles For Survival]
From the Desk of Bill Keller
Executive Editor, The New York Times
With my hectic schedule of Pulitzer committees and Columbia Journalism School symposia, I don't always have time to answer my mail as fully as etiquette demands. Lord knows I'll be in the Audi headed to a Friday night ACLU cocktail benefit in the Hamptons when my Blackberry starts beeping and I have to pull over on the Long Island Expressway, and it turns out to be a text message from some idiot in Wistucky bitching about the last Krugman column. But our story about the government's surveillance of international banking records has generated a few questions and concerns that I take very seriously. As the editor responsible for the difficult decision to publish that story, I'd like to offer a personal response. I'll type v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y so you morons with questions and concerns finally understand.
Some of the incoming mail quotes the spittle-flecked words of conservative bloggers and TV or radio pundits who say that drawing attention to the government's anti-terror measures is unpatriotic and dangerous. (I could ask, how does somebody that retarded get my email? Cripes, I'm going to have a long chat with Network Services this week.) Some comes from not-quite-as-stupid readers who have considered the story in question and still wonder whether publishing such material is wise. Hey, go figure. Thankfully some comes from a better class of readers who are grateful for the information, and attach e-Vites to fabulous midweek gallery openings on the Upper West Side.
The guy gets us on his side right away doesn't he? :0)
thx for the comic relief.
Ping to your own article. :)
“The press and the government generally start out from opposite corners in such cases. In the bad corner, weighing in at five trillion pounds, hailing from Washington DC, with a record of 17-1-1 and 14 knockouts, American ‘The Dissent Crusher’ Governmennnnnnnnt. For example, some members of the Administration have argued over the past three years that when our reporters describe sectarian violence and insurgency in Iraq, we risk demoralizing the nation and giving comfort to the ‘enemy.’ On the other hand, some members of the insurgency have persuasively argued that we have not given enough coverage to violence. Who to believe? The Editors have steadfastly taken our default neutral position and present a careful balance of 50% Iraq violence, so that you - the uniformed cretin - are entrusted with the unbiased, balanced information you need to kayo this illegitimate glass-jawed Administration.”
Sheesh. I thought I was getting one of your "New Dehli English" pings.
A paragraph like that must be built of space-age carbon fibers, lest it be crushed by its own weight.
It truly does capture the voice of the NYT arrogant leftist, though, I gotta say.
Iowahawk bump!
This guy is one of a kind. :)
And I mean every word of the compliments paid to the indomitable Iowahawk in the cover letter.
Folks,
Once again, my friend and colleague Iowahawk, known in the real world as David Burge, has come up in the bottom of the ninth in the seventh game of the World Series, score tied, bases loaded, two out, and knocked the ball far into the night over the left-field fence.
If you want to read more of Iowahawk's spot-on satires on a variety of subjects, go to this link:
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2006/06/the_banking_rep.html
I hope that all of y'all are safe and dry, and not having to sit on floating furniture in your living rooms (yes, especially my friends in Maryland, D.C. and New Jersey).
Cordially,
John
P.S. Interested in a Freeper in Congress? Keep in touch with me.
Congressman Billybob
Excellent!
A bump to keep this alive.
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