N.Y. Times Downplayed Clapper ABC Gaffe — No Critics, Only Pals Who Found It ‘Deeply Misleading’
Yesterday, we reviewed how other national networks skipped out on ABC’s accidental discovery in an interview last week that James Clapper, Obama’s director of national intelligence, had no clue about London terror arrests that had been splashed all over TV that day. Several newspapers picked up the story on December 23, but they were all stocked only with chummy Clapper supporters trying to undo the damage. Scott Shane’s article in the December 23 New York Times (headlined “White House Rallies Round National Intelligence Chief”) was mostly a White House recounting of why no one should be alarmed by Clapper’s ignorance. Readers were told the gaffe was “deeply misleading.” Shane began: “The Obama administration scrambled on Wednesday to undo the damage from an ABC News clip that appeared to show that James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, was clueless on Monday about terrorism arrests in Britain that had been a major news story for hours.” The scrambling paid off, because the Times quoted no one scolding Clapper, even the liberals who scolded him on MSNBC. It was all damage control: read more
Read the original here:
N.Y. Times Downplayed Clapper ABC Gaffe — No Critics, Only Pals Who Found It ‘Deeply Misleading’
Posted by
on December 29, 2010. Filed under