The New York Times turned into the house organ for Winston Smith’s Ministry of Truth so slowly, I hardly even noticed.
“From the newspaper that brought us the immortal phrase ‘Fake But Accurate’ to describe a lie told about the President of the United States, here’s a great euphemism for a lie told by the President of the United States,” as spotted by Jim Treacher:
Obama in Bind Trying to Keep Health Law Vow
WASHINGTON — Under intense bipartisan pressure to answer mounting consumer complaints about the botched health care rollout, White House officials are struggling to make good on President Obama’s promise that Americans can keep their insurance coverage without undermining the new health law or adding unaffordable costs…
The split between lawmakers and the White House reflects the dilemma the president finds himself in as he seeks to follow through on last week’s acknowledgment about his incorrect promise on health care coverage.
As Jim reminds the increasingly senile Gray Lady, “‘If you like your plan, you can keep your plan’ was a lie. Arguably the biggest lie, with the biggest consequences for the biggest number of people, in American history. So of course, Obama’s enablers at the NYT are shielding him from the fallout by… lying.”
Meanwhile, the New York Post enjoys a little schadenfreude on behalf of its crosstown rival: “The stampede for the exits continues at Jill Abramson’s beleaguered New York Times:”
Where once the Times was a destination where people generally ended their career, one departee noted that it has increasingly become a pit stop on the path to greater riches outside the Times — and Abramson is having particular problems holding onto high-profile columnists.
A Times spokeswoman insisted the top brass is not worried.
“Given the size and strength of our staff (we have a newsroom of more than 1,100), it’s inevitable that some very good people might be recruited to other opportunities in what has become a crowded and complicated media marketplace,” said Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy.
“At the same time, we are still hiring great new talent — Jonathan Martin and Jason Horowitz, among them — and Jill remains committed to ensuring that our newsroom has the best and strongest mix of journalistic talent.”
Given the “dance of the low-sloping foreheads” that parades through the Times’ offices, that last sentence could best be described as an incorrect promise.
[jwplayer config=”pjmedia_eddriscoll” mediaid=”65917″]
Join the conversation as a VIP Member