The Nation: The problem with the New York Times' "conservative beat"

[DeepModem Mom]

Posted December 7, 2006 (December 25, 2006 issue)
Point, No Counterpoint: The Conservative Beat
Eric Alterman

....in chartering a conservative beat while refusing to consider an analogous one on liberal activists, intellectuals and organizations, the Times perpetuates a number of stereotypes that do more to confuse than to illuminate. Set aside, for a moment, that while the movement upon which the beat focuses may be extremely right wing, it does not deserve the moniker "conservative." As one of the paper's correspondents to Calame's column pointed out, "A conservative to me is a fiscal conservative who believes in prudent financial management and a social conservative who advocates caution in making changes to longstanding societal arrangements." None of these apply to America's right-wingers today.

No less important, the focus on only the right appears to re-affirm the powerful myth that the rest of the paper is sufficiently "liberal" to have that end of things covered. According to Calame, this decision merely "reflected the reality that The Times's coverage of liberals had no gaps similar to those in its reporting on the conservative movement." Once again, this "reality" is hardly apparent to this liberal. Had the Times, for instance, paid more attention to what genuine liberals were saying four years ago, it would not have allowed its reporters to be sucked into the vortex of lies spun by the Bush Administration, which have embroiled this country in a ruinous war.

A strong case can be made that while the paper's editorial page has been liberal of late, and while most Times employees are probably sympathetic to gay marriage, reproductive choice and the like, the paper's political coverage is actually driven by the far-right's agenda, as expressed by both the Bush Administration and the punditocracy. Liberal ideas, initiatives and organizations are, in fact, the ones that have been given short shrift in the current political environment. The work of many fine institutions and individuals is viewed exclusively through the prism of partisanship rather than considered respectfully as a matter of policy and the world of ideas--as both (David) Kirkpatrick and (Jason) DeParle honored their subjects. This is but one of many reasons, no doubt, why America's political discourse is located in a territory so far rightward it could barely be contained on the political map of any other industrialized democracy.

The word in Times Square is that now that the right-wingers appear to have played themselves out, the paper will probably fold its coverage of them into its larger political coverage. That would be a pity. The kind of coverage the beat has so far offered is available nowhere else in the mainstream media. What is needed is more of it--expanded to embrace liberal movements, organizations and thinkers--not less.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061225/alterman