Horrors! I thought it was the policy of the Bosque Boys not to link to the NYT? Some kind of non-conservative cooties spreading along the link or something...
Thanks for this question, Gossenius. Frankly, I was a bit startled to see an NYT link.
However, your question allows me to offer some clarification: it is my personal policy (not our editorial policy) not to link to the NYT.
The Okie Gardener and our blogging community are free to link to the NYT any time they feel the urge. I shop at Wal-Mart. You guys like the NYT. We all have our guilty pleasures.
Why my personal policy?
1. I absolutely abhor the Times's decision to charge for online subscriptions. What about their liberal-minded dedication to public service? I respect their right to be the only national newspaper to charge an internet fee--but I also respect my right to protest that action.
2. Although I continue to believe that the NYT is the "paper of record" in America, I disagree with their politics. They continue to be an important newspaper because of their incredibly talented staff. They are like the Yankees; they have the best team money can buy. That makes them too important to ignore.
However, the NYT's bias often gets in the way of competent journalism. As many of you know, I prefer the Washington Post, whose editorial board is just as liberal--but, in general, does a much better job of reporting the news in a less-farcical way.
My policy is to link to the Post for that reason; that is, on any given news event, the Post provides better coverage than the NYT.
I agree with Farmer's assessment. The story of the NYT under the current ownership is a sad tale of decline. The stuff they must run in their corrections week in and week out would have made the old editors apoplectic: and these are the errors of fact. The bias evident in newsstories is appalling for a paper that serves as the national record. The last several years the Washington Post has done a much better job with news, in my opinion, both factually and in writing slant, not that they are perfect.
For years, in defense of Thomas Jefferson, whom we enjoy beating-up-on for his myriad contradictory statements and impulses, I have said: if someone followed us around for fifty years (or even fifty hours), they would find a whole host of inconsistencies with which to taunt us.
My lingering taste for the NYT is a fairly decent example of one of my glaring incongruities.
BTW, can anyone think of a better Sunday paper in the USA than the Times?
29/11 22:23:19
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Gossenius wrote: