A Little Perspective On The Times Furor

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: 4th Estate Debate

(CBS/AP)

The debate over whether the New York Times should have been published its story about the government examining bank records has certainly generated more than its fair share of passion. Over at Newsbusters, readers were told that "[t]he legal remedy for what the New York Times has done is the death penalty and confiscation of the newspaper."

And Newsbusters isn't alone in reacting, shall we say, passionately. Sen. Jim Bunning said the Times committed "treason," while a letter writer to the Los Angeles Times said the people responsible for running the story at the Los Angeles Times and New York Times should "see some hard time in prison." President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Rep. Peter King all referred to the decision to run the story as a disgrace. National Review wants the Times to lose its press credentials. As Howard Kurtz notes, radio commentator Tammy Bruce compared the Times to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. "Even by modern standards of media-bashing, the volume of vitriol being heaped upon the editors [of the New York Times] is remarkable," writes Kurtz.

One thing that we've been debating here at Public Eye today is to what degree all this passion actually reflects the mood in America when it comes to this story. That is: A small segment of the population cares passionately about this story, but does the rest of America? At Technorati, the blog search engine, "New York Times" is only #15 on the list of the most popular searches, 13 spots below "Star Jones." There are any number of explanations for this, such as the fact that some people use "the" before the name of the paper when they search for the Times, or the fact that the Times story is the older of the two. But it is interesting that the story doesn't seem to be capturing the imagination of blog searchers the way it seems to have captured the imagination of media commentators and politicians. At CBSNews.com, Star Jones is presently the subject of the #1 and #3 stories on the site, while the Times saga isn't even a top story.

Again, you can't read too much into this. We don't know what most people in America are talking about, really, and neither technorati nor CBSNews.com, with their self-selecting audience, tell us all that much. There are a number of variables at play that render the Star Jones comparison far from definitive. That said, we just kind of wanted to throw out there the point that its possible that the righteous indignation worked up by a small slice of the population may not translate to the wider population. Yes, to people inside the media/political bubble, the Times story seems like the most important thing going right now, bar none. But on stories like this it's worth remembering that these debates are going on among an extremely small group of people in relative terms. Tempting as it may be, it seems like a mistake to extrapolate too much about what it means in a larger sense.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by centralcal-2009 June 29, 2006 6:08 PM EDT: One-American, I think your post (the first one) is accurate. (I think your last post at 12:45 pm/6-29 is accurate too!). Between the NY Times and today's SCOTUS ruling on Hamdan, I think the liberal's have lost all hope of significant gains in 2006, since security is still at the forefront of American concerns. The messages coming out of New York and Washington D.C. these past few days can't be anything but uplifting to the evils lurking in the wings (i.e., N. Korea and Iran). The liberal MSM will gleefully be "covering the zone" tonite and in the near future, and this is truly wonderful! Who needs paid political advertising? The majority party in this country, beginning to enjoy the lazy, hazy days of summer will be jolted out of their lethargy when they see truly the nature of the people that want to be put in charge of their security. What is to complain about? The liberal sector of MSM and the Supreme Court are making the choices for 2006 divinely clear!; Reply to this comment


by one_american June 29, 2006 3:45 PM EDT: Nice to see so many Socialists and Communists come to post at CBS. alphaa10: you are indeed one of the biggest fools I have encountered on the internet. Good job.; Reply to this comment


by alphaa10-2009 June 29, 2006 3:33 AM EDT: One_American-- Your mom *will* wear combat boots, because you preach American fascism-- the belief anything goes, so long as it's your man who's at the wheel. You know the mantra-- unitary executive (the president a power unto itself), pre-emptive war (solves a host of petty problems with diplomacy), vaguely-defined, simple-minded notions of "terrorism" (leading the American military to outspend anybody else on the globe, while bin Laden has been at large for what-- almost five years?-- and Iraq is as much of a hellhole as under Saddam). We have put the nation's business on hold, while Bush has put us head-over-heels in debt and has nothing to show for it. Bush scandal comes out every day, and all you can do is blame the messenger. You defend the so-called "War on Terror" while reluctant to acknwledge Bush never gave it even a half-Bushed shot. Our ports only recently got limited surveillance against container ships with dirty bombs, airports still have large holes in security, the nation's major cities are still wide open, and most have no organized response plan. The Mexican border has been a sieve ever since 911. Bush is bogged in Iraq and can't figure out why. And you call this winning? There always has been an undergrowth of people who never could adjust to the idea of lawful conduct for themselves and lawful government for everybody. They believe in power for the sake of power, and their closest allies are the Huns, and all their descendants.; Reply to this comment


by bbp9857 June 29, 2006 2:59 AM EDT: On one hand, a CIA operative's identity is uncovered to the general public. The government's response? "Tsk, tsk, shame on whoever did that. (oops, turns out that we did that ourselves...) " On the other hand, a domestic spying program is uncovered to the general public. The government's response? "That evil communist terrorist-loving anti-patriotic news organization must face justice!"; Reply to this comment


by CBSTV June 29, 2006 2:52 AM EDT: Any newspaper that learned of the government secretly poking around the bank records of American citizens, and chose to withhold this reporting from readers, would not be much of a journalistic enterprise in my opinion. A key function of the Fifth Estate is to aggressively monitor the actions of the government. The press play an important role in America's system of checks and balances. Journalists ought to serve the citizen's, not the government's, interests. When government officials react as some have over the NYT report, it's a good indication that the press has done its job well. The cries I've heard are the telltale signs of desperation.; Reply to this comment


by one_american June 28, 2006 10:27 PM EDT: alphaa10, The fact is, the Liberals are losing this war, and so badly that they may have to "re-deploy" to Europe to salvage any small part of their credibility. What an incompetent bunch of goose-stepping morons the Liberals are for getting themselves in the "quagmire" of trying to surrender to terrorism! You lose, alphaa10. Loser.; Reply to this comment


by alphaa10-2009 June 28, 2006 9:45 PM EDT: One_American-- Despite your statement, I do not consider you replete with "crazy". However, dismissing criticism as "crazy" is not the wisest course for Bush boosters, at this moment. You may be interested to know, for all your trenches dug in defense of Iraq, Bush and al-Maliki are "actively" interested in a cease-fire possibility that has appeared in the last few days. If al-Maliki takes a real measure of control over affairs in his country (as the US nominally has granted his government the power to do [as though it could]), this leaves you holding a rifle on an empty battlefield, while your friend Bush scuttles away to start troop withdrawals to forstall fall election losses.; Reply to this comment


by one_american June 28, 2006 9:29 PM EDT: alphaa10: In the words of Jack Nicholsen: "Go sell crazy somewhere else. We're all stocked up."; Reply to this comment


by alphaa10-2009 June 28, 2006 9:23 PM EDT: One_American-- Nice try, but your material, itself, collects "erroneous assumptions based on irrelevant data..." Before you discuss "mainstream America", orient yourself to the fact Bush is on the ropes with Iraq in public opinion polls, and not helped in any way in the polls by revelation of domestic spying. This is the reason you are upset and worried, and likewise Bush. Mainstream America views Iraq as a monument to Bush's massive deceit and incompetence. And the twin scandals of domestic spying (phone and financial) is simply another Bush disaster, aka criminal misconduct by a sitting chief executive. Domestic spying without recourse to special court review is specifically proscribed by previous congressional legislation enacted and signed into law, and of many years standing. Bush is simply another berserk "unitary executive", convinced his view is the only view possible on the subject of presidential power. In a government of laws and constititional sharing of power, however, Bush and his world view does not necessarily carry force of law. Bush earns all the greater condemnation that he tries to bluster and smokescreen his way past the issue of spying, asserting his notion that everything is OK. Howvever, wishing does not make it so, and this is your core erroneous presumption. The issue of massive fraud on the American people on Iraq and abuse of their constitutionally-guaranteed rights is a hallmark of the worst presidency in at least a century.; Reply to this comment


by one_american June 28, 2006 8:05 PM EDT: "Tempting as it may be, it seems like a mistake to extrapolate too much about what it means in a larger sense." - So, why did you bother posting, Brian? I think you have made some eroneous assumptions based upon irrelevant data. Now really, are blog searches at Technorati REALLY an accurate gage of public opinion? Please... Many of mainstream America are disgusted with the underhanded, anti-American tactics of the New York Times, and want them held accountable for it. There is no defendable reason for the Times to sell out National Security secrets, ESPECIALLY in a time of war. In other words, the public is "mad as hell, and they're not gonna take it anymore!".; Reply to this comment