Because they don't report the news, they try to shape it. Robert Novak reports that the NYT was shopping around for Republicans willing to help them harass Tom DeLay out of office -- and I doubt they were going to put a disclaimer on top.
On March 24, former Congressman Bob Livingston was sent an e-mail by a New York Times editorial page staffer suggesting he write an op-ed essay. Would Livingston, who in 1998 gave up certain elevation to be House speaker because of a sexual affair, write about how Majority Leader Tom DeLay should now act under fire? In a subsequent conversation, it was made clear the Times wanted the prominent Republican to say DeLay should step aside for the good of the party.
There's a danger in trusting any one news source. We should be equally skeptical of both conservative and liberal news sources.
As for DeLay, he's in plenty of trouble... regardless of what the NY Times may or may not have done. Even The Wall Street Journal's editorial page (known for being fairly conservative) has not been very kind to him.
"We should be equally skeptical of both conservative and liberal news sources."
That rhetorical device is extremely common today, and yet it makes absolutely no sense. Why should we assume so insistently that everything must be equal between liberals and conservatives?
It's very unlikely that conservative and liberal news sources deserve the same level of skepticism, just as it's unlikely that any other relevant variables are the same between the two groups.
There are real differences between liberals and conservatives. Liberals are happy to believe that when the difference favors them, but then they deny it when they don't like the result.
BB: Why? Because bias and slant come from both conservative and liberal news sources. Neither conservative nor liberal news sources are always biased to the point where the truth is distorted... which is why it's important to get news from a variety of sources.. both liberal and conservative.
Your characterization of liberals and conservatives is, at best, one-sided. The fact of the matter is there's denial on both sides.
You're right about one thing, though... there are differences between conservatives and liberals. Those differences aren't related to denial, however.
To believe that it's only liberals (or that it's only conservatives) who deny something or end up on the wrong side of any given issue is tantamount to pure idiocy.
Yes, liberal and conservative news sources deserve the same level of skepticism. They're both biased and likely to distort and spin the facts one way or the other.
"To believe that it's only liberals (or that it's only conservatives) who deny something . . ."
Where did the 'only' come from? That's the straw man. Michael says, "I don't trust the NY Times," then you accuse him of adding: "and Fox News is totally unbiased." But he didn't say that. He didn't even imply it. The only interesting question is whether one source is more biased than another. Jumping to 'only' makes that conversation impossible.
Oh, but I wasn't accusing MW of that... I was accusing you of it.
You said, in general terms, that "Liberals are happy to believe that when the difference favors them, but then they deny it when they don't like the result."... as if it were something either widespread or systemic among liberals.
Speaking of putting words into people's mouths, though, I never mentioned Fox News. I deliberately neglected to mention any particular news source because my point wasn't about just one... but about them all.
If it's true that the NY Times shopped around for a Republican to put pressure on DeLay, then it's definitely something that would cause me to lose what little respect I have for the NY Times.
Mark: As BB said, I wouldn't insert an "only", but I will say that the vast majority of fraud and deception comes from the left. Just look at all the voter fraud propagated by the Democrats, with hardly anything like it (other than nutso conspiracies) attributed to the Republicans.
Voter fraud claims come and go with the tides. Regardless of who claims it, it's rarely anything terribly significant or indicative of some systemic problem.
Spinsanity.org (which sadly hasn't been kept up-to-date since November of 2004) and Factcheck.org contain numerous examples of deception and spin from both sides of the ideological spectrum..
.. so don't tell me that the "vast majority" of fraud and deception come from the Left...
.. unless you're making a joke.