One need only look at QandO’s demolition job on the New York Times’s effort to pin the blame concerning the current housing and financial crisis on the Bush Administration’s supposedly “hands-off approach to regulation.” As QandO points out, there were a whole host of people to blame on this issue–including Democrats who denied that there were any problems with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, even as Republicans sought to have more oversight of the two government agencies.
The Times needs to read Steve Horwitz as well before going off half-cocked about the supposed dangers of the market. I don’t expect it to do so–its easier to beat up on scapegoats than it is to face facts. But the rise of the alternative media is tied directly and explicitly to the failure of mainstream media outlets like the New York Times to process facts and its consistent willingness to allow its editorial board to dictate to its audience what we should believe the facts of a certain story to be.
Of course, this promises to have an awful effect on policy formulation. Misinformation does not lead to good choices when it comes to creating and implementing policy and at a time when we are facing a severe economic downturn and financial crisis, access to the correct information is crucial to our ability to right our economic ship.
Too bad, then, that the Times made it that much tougher to access and utilize complete and accurate information on the financial crisis and the causes behind it. The sentiments in its story were better expressed on the editorial page, if anywhere at all. Ironically enough, by choosing to substitute ideology for facts, the Times has proven itself as intellectually sloppy and dishonest as it presumes the Bush Administration to be.
Moe Lane
Neil Stevens
Steve Maley
Dan McLaughlin
You pegged the problem in your last sentence
Bill S (Diary) Sunday, December 21st at 11:26PM EST (link)by choosing to substitute ideology for facts,
This is the problem with the local fishwrap here in St. Louis, the NYT, and with most of the liberal rags in this country. It’s a problem that is institutionalized in the so-called journalism business these days, most likely brought on by leftist influences in US journalism schools.
“It’s such a fine line between stupid, and clever.” – David St. Hubbins
Where were the journalists two years ago?
JDidSaint Monday, December 22nd at 10:11AM EST (link)With more and more people suddenly able to afford housing, it seems like some alarms should have been going off. Playing the blame game (as in the article above) is fun, but it isn’t exactly award winning journalism. Still, it probably took the journalist who wrote the article three hours of research and writing as opposed to the week or two of research that would have been required to bust open the housing crisis when it would have been a real story.
Does anyone know where I can find a list of the news articles that dealt with the housing bubble more than two years ago? You know, back when Ron Paul was warning that it was unsustainable?
“I’d rather go through the pain of the re-emergence of free markets than endure the long suffering of a socialist state. One is natural and comes from that spark of human desire; the other is imposed and smothers the flame of ingenuity.”-Crowe (from RedState!)
Actually, I don't have time to do the research...
itrytobenice (Diary) Monday, December 22nd at 12:43PM EST (link)But the WSJ editorial page was doing articles about the coming housing crisis and the problems at Fannie and Freddie for about the last 5 or 6 years.
Proper grammar saves lives.
Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.
McClatchy down to 87 cents a share
bc3 Monday, December 22nd at 11:17PM EST (link)Closed at 87 cents today, down from $1.03 Friday; $1.50 mid last week, $13.00 in January. McClatchy owns 30 dailies including the Miami Herald, the KC Star and the very anti-Palin Anchorage Daily News.
bc3
Why most Newspapers are worthless
sketz Tuesday, December 23rd at 1:46PM EST (link)Liberalism thats why. Americans do not agree with the Socialist who own and edit their papers. I for one don’t buy my own local County paper because every issue I’ve read has rewrite’s from other paper’s with a few line changed to look as though it was writen by the reporter of that colume. The local fire and police page has news rewriten from events that had happened months or weeks earlier, then rewrite again. Aswell as their constant liberal bias of their aheadline news stories on County, State, and National events. They knock our military, our President or any moral issue that affects our Nation worldwide. They support every immoral issue, which by the way affects the why other Nations view use.Espiecially the Nations that once looked up to us. Now that Liberals have taken over our Country, look for even more hard time to come. “LIBERALS GENERATE THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF THEIR STATED INTENT” From Quinn. They push their immoralality on the majority when it’s to be the other way around. Liberals will go to any extent to get what they want. Just look at Socialist Al Franken stealing the Illiniois Senate race. And no one is doing anything to stop it. Standup to these Socialist morons who have distroyed the Democratic Party. 70 plus years ago Liberals were called the Communist Party, they still have the same agenda now they had then. And that was the socalled CHANGE Obuma was talking about in his run to President right now. Turning America into a Socialist Nation. GOD HELP AMERICA.