MEDIA CULTURE
The NYT Protest [Nathan Goulding]
Stephen Spruiell and I covered the NYT protest here in New York yesterday. Sadly, both the protesters' and counter-protesters' vitriolic "rhetoric" was nothing short of embarrassing. Chanting "Osama Bin Keller" on one side of the street is no different than wearing a shirt with "Bush is an international terrorist" on the other. George Bush is the President of the United States, and Bill Keller is executive editor of the NYT. Both are individuals that deserve better than the label of a terrorist.
To be clear, National Review and NRO have condemned the NYT's decision to publish in no uncertain terms. But as Andy McCarthy pointed out, prosecution is not a viable or desirable option. Critics of the NYT's decision should focus instead on prosecuting the leakers and persuading the public that exposing sensitive national security programs is not a legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights.
A protester yelled over the loudspeaker yesterday that the New York Times shouldn't report on the protest because they would misrepresent it. We hope the NYT doesn't cover the protest, too — not because the NYT would misrepresent it, but rather because it was sad to see the right engaging in the worst rhetorical excesses of the left.
UPDATE: The NY Sun's coverage is here.
07/11 08:57 AM
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