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Labeling Bias

• November 22 -- A Double Standard on Anti-Terror Cheap Shots?
Labeling bias and double standards on political "cheap shots" in a front-page story from Philip Shenon and Carl Hulse.

• November 17 -- Religious Right, but "Religious Left"
David Kirkpatrick mulls post-election religious grumbling among Democrats: "Some Democrats are scrambling to shake off their secular image, stepping up efforts to organize the 'religious left' and debating changes to how they approach the cultural flashpoints of same-sex marriage and abortion." But why the quote marks around "religious left"?

• November 11 -- No Lingering “Glow” Once the “Civil Rights Groups” Start Hammering
In the forthcoming confirmation hearings for Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales, the Times has found two sides. On one side are “conservatives” who find Gonzales is not “sufficiently hardline.” On the other are “Democrats” and “civil rights groups” who worry about the new pick’s tolerance for prison abuse.

• November 9 -- "Conservative" Sen. Reid to the Democrats' Rescue?
A Times editorial tilts the labeling field.

• November 4 -- Overdosing Again on "Conservatives"
David Kirkpatrick continues his label-happy conservative beat reporting.

• November 4 -- Beware Bush's Supreme Court Nominees
The Times talks of "strict conservative" nominees to the Supreme Court.

• November 4 -- Conservatives All Over the Country, But Few Liberals Around
A mother lode of labeling bias in the NYT's state-by-state Election Night rundown: Twenty uses of "conservative" but only two "liberals."

• November 4 -- Centering Hillary Clinton
Mainstreaming Hillary for 2008?

• November 3 -- "Conservatives" and "Democratic Stalwarts" in Congress
Robin Toner and Katharine Seelye's front-page story finds plenty of "conservative" winners in Congress but no "liberals," only "Democratic stalwarts."

• November 2 -- More Conservative Christian Conservatives
David Kirkpatrick files two stories on conservative Christians and dredges up Pat Buchanan's Republican convention speech from 1992.

• November 1 -- "Conservatives" vs. Democrats in the Senate
The Times runs down nine crucial Senate races and uses the term "conservative" six times, twice in its short summary of the race to unseat Tom Daschle.

• October 27 -- No Liberals in the Battleground States
Alan Greenblatt finds "conservative transplants" in Colorado, "socially conservative voters" in Michigan, and plain old "conservatives" in Ohio and Florida. But where are the "liberals"?

• October 27 -- The NYT's "Base" Instincts
In the homestretch, "Conservative Base" Leads "Liberal Base" 18-2.

• October 27 -- Kerry's Not That Liberal, Part II
Todd Purdum makes the same "Kerry's-not-that-liberal" argument he made for the Times' biased voter guide: "[Kerry's] record is more eclectic and less predictable than that rating would imply."

• October 26 -- Complex Kerry, Striving Edwards
John Kerry : "Time and again, he has proved himself most focused in the crunch." John Edwards: "The odds are against him? The son of a mill worker likes those odds."

• October 25 -- Conservative Bush vs. Not-That-Liberal Kerry
The Times evaluates the possible election-loss aftermath for John Kerry ("more liberal than Mr. Clinton, but, Mr. Bush's attacks on him notwithstanding, not by much") and George W. Bush ("a clear conservative candidate").

• October 22 -- Bush's Judicial Philosophy Based Purely on "Reaping Political Benefit"?
Neil Lewis' front-page story on Bush's federal puts a cynical spin on the president's judicial philosophy: "There could have been no clearer signal that Mr. Bush intended to follow the pattern set by his father and President Ronald Reagan of shifting the courts rightward and reaping the political benefit of pleasing social conservatives."

• October 18 -- "Hard-Right" Coors Family, "Conservative" O'Connor?
Kirk Johnson throws around some loaded labels in his story on the Colorado senate race: "It is a question that would have shocked the old line, hard-right conservative patriarchs of the clan begat by Adolph Coors."

• October 14 -- More Misleading on Bush's Tax Cuts
David Rosenbaum uses two pro-Democratic groups to allege Bush misled on taxes during the final presidential debate.

• October 7 -- "Conservatives" vs. "Independents"
Labeling bias in Sheryl Gay Stolberg's story on Tom Delay.

• October 5 -- Sharpton's "Party for the People"
A profile of a fundraiser by race-baiter Al Sharpton reads like a jaunty press release: "There was no cover, minimum donation or official status necessary for a ticket to the fund-raiser at the Apollo Theater yesterday. Sure, there were a few dignitaries, celebrities and high-powered corporate types, but this was the Rev. Al Sharpton's 50th birthday party. In his words, this was for the people."

• September 29 -- Still No Liberals for Gay Marriage
Sarah Kershaw and James Dao track the state-to-state prospects of gay marriage bans and pile on the "conservative" labels.

• September 21 -- "Consumer Advocate" Nader
Managing editor Michael Oreskes reviews Ralph Nader's new book and wonders what happened to the old left-wing activist--er, "consumer advocate."

• September 17 -- Bad Labeling Habits on the Trail
Richard Stevenson and Robin Toner indulge in some unhealthy labeling bias while on the campaign trail with Bush.

• September 16 -- Edwards As "Moderate," Plus More Misleading on Cheney
An off-lead story on Kerry's suddenly invisible running mate misleadingly labels Edwards a moderate and repeats a misreading of Dick Cheney's war-on-terror speech.

• August 31 -- NYT Springs at "Conservative" Republican Platform -- But Took a Dive Over the Democrat's Liberal One
The "conservative" Republican platform makes the lead headline of the Times and even gets its own front-page story. So how did the paper cover the liberal Democratic platform back in July?

• August 30 -- "Moderate" Traub vs. "Extremist" Republicans
James Traub again portrays himself as a moderate while attacking Republican extremism: "…it is conservative culture, the culture permeating the Bush administration, that is shot through with Sixties moralism and self-righteousness, the calls to ideological purity, the insistence that the other is not merely wrong but illegitimate."

• August 26 -- Did We Mention That They're Conservative?
David Kirkpatrick reviews the Republican Party's platform committee and overdoses on the term "conservative."

• August 24 -- More Anti-Swift Bias from a Paper "Calling Itself" Objective
Elisabeth Bumiller and Kate Zernike's front-page story on Bush denouncing outside political ads includes a dismissive description of the Swift Boat Vets. Also: What about the "web of ties" between the left-wing Moveon.org and the Kerry campaign?

• August 23 -- The Vanishing Republican Moderate, Again
Carl Hulse employs a standard liberal trope: "But [moderates] worry about their real influence in a party dominated by conservatives at a time when the ranks of House moderates are thinning."

• August 18 -- "Alarming" Environmental Bias at the Times
A Dean Murphy story (with an alarmist headline, "Study Finds Climate Shift Threatens California") accepts as fact the theory of man-made global warming while pushing an "alarming" study from left-wing environmentalists.

• August 17 -- Times Still Hasn't Learned to Label Liberals
Labeling bias in Greg Winter's story on the defeat of religious school vouchers in Florida.

• August 16 -- Bush Deregulates As Iraq Burns
Joel Brinkley’s investigation on regulatory policy in the Bush administration takes the liberal line: “Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra Club, says he does not think the administration could have succeeded in rewriting so many environmental rules, for example, if the public's attention had not been focused on national security issues.”

• August 16 -- Sharon’s “Hysterical Opposition” to Hope in the Middle East?
James Bennet’s profile of Israeli PM Ariel Sharon reveals more of Bennet’s pro-Palestinian tilt: “It was not so long ago that Sharon and his memories of blood were the stuff of history and hysterical opposition to everything that seemed hopeful….”

• August 11 -- Halbfinger Omits the Union Label
Reporting on campaign courting of the elderly, David Halbfinger spreads around more Kerry optimism and leaves out the AFL-CIO origins of a "three-year-old political organization that claims three million members" that's endorsing Kerry.

• August 10 -- The Centering of John Kerry
David Halbfinger positions Kerry's campaign in the political center: "Indeed, while Democrats note that Mr. Bush continues to talk about banning gay marriage and late-term abortions, and to visit bedrock Republican areas of the country like Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Mr. Kerry, the Democrat from Massachusetts, is rolling through the Great Plains and the high plateaus of the Southwest preaching fiscal responsibility, tax cuts, gun owners' rights and national security."

• July 29 -- More of John "Populist, Not Liberal" Edwards
Edwards: Not liberal, but "populist."

• July 28 -- "Feisty" Teresa Heinz Kerry
The Times soft-pedals the controversy over Teresa Heinz Kerry's "feisty comments."

• July 27 -- Kennedy, Hillary Voting Records: Liberal or Not?
Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy have "so-called liberal" voting records?

• July 13 -- Unlabeled Liberal Health "Experts" vs. "Conservatives"
Mireya Navarro portrays liberal activists as nonpartisan health "experts" fighting "conservatives."

• July 12 -- "Wedge Issues" Only on the Right?
Jodi Wilgoren reports from North Carolina: "Mr. Kerry made an oblique reference to conservatives' efforts to use gay marriage and other wedge issues to win Bible Belt states like North Carolina." Does "wedge issue" means "popular issue disliked by liberals"?

• July 12 -- "Under Pressure from Conservatives…."
The Times puts its standard stamp on the gay rights issue in a front-page story by Adam Nagourney and David Kirkpatrick: "…under pressure from conservatives, President Bush is escalating his support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage." Are Democrats never "pressured by liberals?"

• July 8 -- Wilgoren Watches the Democrats
Jodi Wilgoren, one of the paper's more balanced political reporters, nabs the front page with her story on the new Kerry-Edwards ticket and at least hints at the ticket's liberal bent.

• July 7 -- Edwards' Liberalism Goes Unmentioned…
The National Journal rated Kerry's VP pick John Edwards the fourth-most liberal senator in 2003. Yet the Times fails to label Edwards as liberal. Things were just a bit different when Bush picked Dick Cheney in 2000.

• June 28 -- In Iraq, "Resistance" vs. U.S. Soldiers and "Collaborators"
Reporter Edward Wong describes the Iraqis killing U.S. soldiers as a popular "insurgency" and a "resistance" force, and calls Iraqis helping U.S. troops "collaborators."

• June 25 -- Kerry Centering Himself?
A front page story on John Kerry claims: "Kerry Messages Begins Leaning Toward Center," but doesn't provide any evidence of the shift.

• June 11 -- Abu Ghraib, on the Tube
The Times keeps Abu Ghraib in the news with a story about a commercial condemning the Abu Ghraib prison abuse, made by "spiritual leaders from different faiths" who all turn out to be liberals.

• June 8 -- Reagan's Devolving Idea of Missile Defense
The passing of Ronald Reagan is the apparent hook for a Times story on missile defense, which features the eye-rolling tone the Times usually employs when discussing the issue. The paper also quotes two unlabeled outside experts from the same liberal defense group.

• May 20 -- The Denial of Communion "Tactic"
Laurie Goodstein's story on the threat by some Catholic bishops to deny communion to pro-abortion politicians reduces the theological issue to the level of cynical politics: "The tactic of denying the sacrament has been urged for years by anti-abortion groups…"

• May 18 -- "Civil Rights Leader" Jesse Jackson
Adam Nagourney and Richard Stevenson, in Topeka for the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, call left-wing activist Jesse Jackson a "civil rights leader."

• May 17 -- Still No Liberals in the Gay Marriage Debate
Sunday's front-page sports a story by conservative beat reporter David Kirkpatrick on the apparent lack of interest that conservative religious activists have shown regarding a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage.

• May 13 -- Keeping It In the Liberal Family
There's a revealing editor's note on Thursday's corrections page regarding John Leland's Wednesday article, "73 Options for Medicare Plan Fuel Chaos, Not Prescriptions."

• May 13 -- Bits of Labeling Bias
Some bits of labeling bias in Thursday's paper, one in Glen Justice's story profiling Democratic fundraising diva Ellen Malcolm.

• May 10 -- More Conservative Conservatives
Religion reporter Laurie Goodstein provides an amusing example of the Times' obsession with "conservatives," using the term seven times within the first 220 words of a story.

• April 23 -- Straight From the Pro-Abortion Stylebook
Robin Toner's abortion stories this week, while mostly bias-free, betray a pattern of labeling consistent with the Times liberal stylebook: Abortion supporters are given flattering titles ("abortion-rights supporters") while pro-life groups are stuck with negative labels ("anti-abortion").

• April 13 -- Louis Uchitelle: "Time For Another New Deal"
Economics reporter/columnist Louis Uchitelle quotes liberally from Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Ted Kennedy and wonders, "must government play a much greater supporting role in job creation?"

• April 12 -- The American-Killing Iraqi "Resistance"
Jeffrey Gettleman paints Iraq as "collapsing into chaos" and uses the term "freedom fighters" in a description of anti-American Iraqis willing to kill Americans.

• April 5 -- Conservatives and the Conservative Conservatives Who Support Them
Democrat optimist James Dao's story on the Senate Republican primary in Pennsylvania contains 17 occurrences of "conservative" in 1,250 words, and insists moderate Republicans are a dying breed.

• March 30 -- John Kerry, Free-Market Devotee?
Louis Uchitelle positions big-government liberal John Kerry as a free marketer: "Fiscal responsibility and deficit reduction, hallmarks of the Clinton years, are bedrock orthodoxy in the Kerry camp, too. So is faith in the private sector's powers to generate prosperity."

• March 29 -- Labeling Bias Not "Left Behind"
Conservative beat reporter David Kirkpatrick previews the newest book in the popular "Left Behind" series of apocalyptic Christian novels. But he fails to identify the left-wing beliefs of a prominent critic.

• March 8 -- John Kerry, "Deficit Hawk"?
At the Times, Kerry's liberalism is still an open question.

• March 4 -- Bad for Bush to Push Marriage Amendment
Carl Hulse puts the onus on Bush and Republicans to justify their push for a marriage amendment: "Senate Republican leaders said Wednesday that they would aggressively pursue a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages despite Democratic arguments that the proposal is divisive, unnecessary and a distraction from more pressing issues." And are there really no liberals involved in the fight over gay marriage?

• February 25 -- UCS! UCS! Rah Rah Rah!
Again, the Times runs a story fed to it by a left-wing environmental group.

• February 25 -- Married to the Conservative Label
Robin Toner's analysis of Bush's gay marriage amendment announcement mentions "conservative" 17 times and suggests a constitutional amendment may alienate centrists. Yet the Times own poll shows such an amendment has centrist appeal.

• February 19 -- Spinning Left-Wing Straw Men Into Anti-Bush Gold
A left-wing activist group's rehash of old reporting is transformed into an anti-Bush news story by science reporter James Glanz.

• February 16 -- More on "Moderate" Kerry
Reporter Randal Archibold again insists Sen. John Kerry is a moderate.

• February 12 -- "Conservatives" and "Others"
"Two kinds of senators at the Times."

• February 6 -- The "Non-Ideological" Massachusetts Supreme Court
Pam Belluck insists the Massachusetts Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of gay marriage, is not necessarily liberal: "They are not, for the most part, considered ideologues, and their views are often difficult to pigeonhole, experts say."

• February 4 -- Bush's "Threats To Our Way of Life"
Nicholas Kristof claims Bush fiscal policy poses the real threat to the American way of life and applauds the fiscal conservatism of Bill Clinton.

• February 4 -- "Conservatives" vs. "Supporters of Gay Marriage"
James Dao repeats a common Times habit on gay marriage, pitting "conservatives" against plain old "supporters" of gay marriage.

• February 4 -- Centering Sen. Kerry
David Halbfinger suggests Sen. John Kerry doesn't have to move to the center for the general election--he's already there.

• February 2 -- Still No Liberals Here
Once again, a Robert Pear story finds no liberals in Congress, only "conservatives" and Democrats.

• January 29 -- "Conservatives" vs. Democrats, Part XI
New topic, same labeling bias from reporter Robert Pear.

• January 27 -- Bush's "Bold" (and Liberal) FDA
Science writer Gina Kolata on the "bold" (read: liberal) decisions of Bush's FDA commissioner.

• January 27 -- Dean: Still No Liberal
Katharine Seelye seems surprised anyone would call Dean a liberal: "Despite these conservative credentials, Dr. Dean has been cast by some pundits in the presidential campaign as an extreme liberal…"

• January 26 -- John Kerry, "A Centrist on a Surge"?
That's what Times reporter Randal Archibold thinks.

• January 21 -- Loving Higher Taxes in Virginia
James Dao puts his usual chirpy, optimistic spin on Democratic politicians in a profile of Virginia Gov. Mark Warner's push for a tax hike, while letting the tax-raising Democrat call his plan "conservative."

• January 20 -- Reciting Left-Wing Environmental Talking Points
Michael Janofsky delves into left-wing criticism of the National Park Service in a story strongly reminiscent of an article that appeared on a far-left website last month.

• January 15 -- "Conservatives" vs. "Democrats"
Eric Lichtblau and James Risen pit "conservatives" versus plain old "Democrats" in a story on a 9/11 task force.

• January 15 -- "Civil Rights Leaders" Tell Bush: Stay Away from MLK Day
Jeffrey Gettleman and Ariel Hart find anti-Bush racial animosity in Atlanta: "Many of Atlanta's civil rights leaders are outraged about Mr. Bush's planned visit to commemorate Dr. King's 75th birthday….It seems to have lifted the lid on long-simmering anger many blacks feel toward Mr. Bush. Some Bush policies, including tax cuts mainly benefiting those with higher incomes and cutting back on welfare-type programs, have alienated black voters, analysts say."

• January 6 -- The "Conservative" Medicare Drug Bill?
Robert Pear surveys the political landscape around the Medicare drug bill and sees no liberals: "The law was written mainly by conservatives and centrists."

• December 29 -- Shut Up, Krugman Explained
In the spirit of holiday generosity, columnist Paul Krugman deigns to give reporters something he clearly places premium value on--his opinion: "President Bush has turned this country sharply to the right, and this election will determine whether the right's takeover is complete. But will the coverage of the election reflect its seriousness? Toward that end, I hereby propose some rules for 2004 political reporting."

• December 29 -- Religious "Centrists" For Left-Wing Causes
Virginia Heffernan reviews the latest Bill Moyers' documentary, a profile of a purportedly "middle of the road" Manhattan minister who nonetheless "opposes bigotry, poverty and empire building" and "supports gay rights, job training programs and the alleviation of hunger."

• December 29 -- Mainstreaming Howard Dean
Rick Lyman thinks Howard Dean's Vermont record makes him a "fiscal conservative" and that calling him a liberal is simplistic: "The truth is more complicated."

• December 17 -- Still No Liberals Here
Once again, it's centrist Joe Lieberman and non-liberal Howard Dean.

• December 9 -- Al Sharpton, "Civil Rights Leader"
"Civil rights leader" Al Sharpton wins a lawsuit. Reporter Thomas Lueck ignores the infamous Tawana Brawley hoax that resulted in Sharpton himself being successfully sued for accusing a prosecutor of rape.

• December 9 -- Gore and Lieberman, Centered
Al Gore's shocking endorsement of the candidacy of Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (and his implicit rejection of former running mate Sen. Joe Lieberman) gives the paper another chance to insist Gore and Lieberman are "centrists."

• December 8 -- Lieberman's No Liberal?
A front-page profile of Joe Lieberman by Janny Scott gets off on the wrong foot right away: "A Centrist, Lieberman Fights For Votes in an Extremist Era."

• December 3 -- Quantifying (Liberal) "Hope"
In a story on "health activism" courses taken by NYC medical students, Sharon Lerner cloaks Naderite advocacy in dreamy notions of "quantifying hope."

• November 25 -- Giddy Over Gay Marriage
The Massachusetts ruling opening the door to gay marriage inspires the Times to two striking examples of labeling bias. To Elisabeth Bumiller, those against gay marriage are "social conservatives," those in favor are not liberals but "gays, lesbians and their supporters." Yet the supporter quoted most prominently is Marxist playwright Tony Kushner, author of the Reagan-hating "Angels in America." Tamar Lewin replicates the exact pattern of labeling bias as Bumiller: Five conservative mentions versus zero liberals.

• November 25 -- "Perfect Timing" for Gay Marriage
Wedding writer Lois Smith Brady assumes her readers are as giddy as she about the Massachusetts Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage: "Last week's ruling by the highest court in Massachusetts legalizing gay marriage was perfectly timed in many ways....it comes just in time for same-sex couples to begin planning a June wedding."

• November 20 -- Still No Liberals in the Medicare Drug Debate
How does one quote Rep. Charles Rangel and Sen. Ted Kennedy in a Medicare story without using the word "liberal?" Ask Robert Pear and Robin Toner.

• November 17 -- 'Speaking Up For the Middle," from the Far Left
The Times reports on a new anti-conservative religious coalition "that wants to speak up for the middle and the left"--but names only the liberal Interfaith Alliance and the left-wing National Council of Churches as members.

• November 13 -- Pear Continues Heavy Lifting On Labeling Bias
For months, Robert Pear has been writing the same Sisyphean story on the eternally embattled Medicare drug benefit bill, pitting "conservative" Republicans against plain old "Democrats" like…Sen. Ted Kennedy?

• November 13 -- Bush, Panderer to the Panhandle
Could Bush actually favor the travel ban on U.S. travel to Cuba on principle? The thought doesn't occur to Christopher Marquis, who portrays Bush as pandering to Cuban-Americans: "[His] allies in Congress quietly eliminated a widely supported provision easing restrictions on American travel to Cuba from a major appropriations bill to save him from embarrassment over his political designs in Florida…."

• November 4 -- The Times and the "C-Word"
A story on Democratic Sen. Schumer's filibusters against Bush nominees goes crazy with "conservative" labels.

• November 3 -- Republicans in the Hood
In Louisiana for the governor's race, Jeffrey Gettleman compares the appeal of Indian-American Republican Bobby Jindal to that of former Klansman David Duke.

• October 24 -- "Rumsfeld Draws Republicans' Ire"

• October 24 -- Have Fear, The "Religious Right" Is Here!
Abby Goodnough's label-happy front page story on Terri Schiavo focuses on how religious conservatives intend to use the victory, and calls a Florida legislator "far-right."

• October 21 -- Bush Jr. -- No Senior Appeal?
Robin Toner squeezes data out of an old poll to show "Bush's Popularity With Older Voters Is Seen As Slipping"--and lets us know who the bad guys are in the Medicare debate.

• October 20 -- Brownout on Fact-Checking
Neil Lewis asserts Bush nominee Judge Janice Rogers Brown "would be the first black woman to sit on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia." That probably comes as a surprise to Judith Rogers, a black judge who currently sits on the court.

• October 16 -- Bush's Tax Cuts Have Cost California
Bush is going to California, but Times reporters warn the state not to expect too much: "Tax cuts and the cost of the war on terror have emptied the federal treasury, leaving little for California and other hard-pressed states."

• October 15 -- No Liberal Democrats?
David Firestone's latest story on opposition to Bush's aid request for Iraq finds both "conservative" Democrats and Republicans speaking out against it, but no liberals.

• October 14 -- Nobody Here But Us "Progressives" and "Populists"
If Dennis Kucinich isn't liberal, who is?

• October 13 -- Lieberman: Your Average "Centrist" Joe?
The headline and text of Edward Wyatt's front-pager on Joe Lieberman both call the candidate a centrist, but as the MRC reports: "He may not be a left-wing liberal, but he’s certainly no centrist either. Just look at the ratings."

• October 13 -- Cheney Lashes Out
Eric Schmitt's report on a Dick Cheney speech positions the vice president as Bush's heavy, "lashing out" and "ridiculing" critics.

• October 10 -- "Shrill, Privileged" Doctors vs. "Advocate" Ralph Nader
A New Jersey bureau chief squeezes in class warfare and several other liberal cliches in his column on "shrill" and "privileged" doctors protesting high insurance premiums.

• September 22 -- “Moderate” Dukakis but “Staunchly Conservative” Bush?
To Robin Toner, Bill Clinton is “centrist,” Michael Dukakis is “moderate”--but George Bush is “staunchly conservative.”

• September 18 -- Robert Pear Overdoses On “Conservatives”
Robert Pear’s story on drug subsidies for seniors overdoses on the “conservative” label, employing the term seven times in a 750-word story. Meanwhile, ultraliberal Sen. Ted Kennedy is again merely a “Democrat of Massachusetts.”

• August 25 -- “Civil Rights” Or Just Liberal Interest Groups?

• August 18 -- The Times “Corrects” Unbiased Story
Putting out a paper on diesel fuel leaves the Times unable to apply the final biased touches--but all was well by morning.

• August 12 -- But Is It a “Vast” Right-Wing Cabal?
Times Magazine writer Matt Bai again praises a moderate Republican senator fighting “extremist” and “fringe” elements to his right and talks of a “right-wing cabal that administration officials would consult on a regular basis.”

• August 11 -- Puffing Up Huffington
Two stories on California’s surreal governor’s race try to make Arianna Huffington more palatable, calling her “populist” and “progressive.” Would it kill the Times to call the liberal Huffington “liberal?”

• August 7 -- The Running Man
The Times story on California’s recall vote notes Sen. Feinstein is out, while action-hero Arnold and “populist” Arianna are in, and offers its readers snob appeal: “Instead of talking about issues like nuclear proliferation and appropriations, as Ms. Feinstein did, Mr. Schwarzenegger made light of his decision to run….” And is Arianna Huffington really a populist independent or just another left-winger?

• August 4 -- No Liberals For Gay Marriage?
Elisabeth Bumiller mentions “conservatives” several times in her story on Bush and gay marriage but sees no liberals on the other side, only “core primary voters.”

• August 1 -- Gross Generalizations OK For Liberal Causes?
Danny Hakim takes a moralistic look at the popularity of pickup trucks: “The trend toward bigger-than-ever pickups has broad implications for the safety of American drivers, the environment, oil consumption and the financial health of the auto industry.” He also generalizes about pickup truck drivers: “They tend to drink more and use their seat belts less often, figures show.” Would the Times let anyone else spread such stereotypes?

• July 30 -- Howard Dean, Lean-Government Machine?
Jodi Wilgoren and David Rosenbaum’s front-page story on Howard Dean is solid and balanced, citing Dean’s record as Vermont governor as well as the left-wing tilt of his supporters. But is he really “a fiscal conservative?”

• July 21 -- Still No Liberal Labeling In Drug Coverage
A front-page story by Robert Pear on the tough road ahead for a Medicare drug bill calls the liberal group Families USA, which favors Canadian-style socialized medicine, a “consumer group.” Meanwhile, on the other side, “Conservatives agree that the Senate subsidies are generous -- too generous, they say.”

• July 15 -- “Carnage” In Iraq?
Reporter Adam Nagourney writes on the “continuing carnage in Iraq.” Carnage?

• July 15 -- Still Looking for the Liberal Label
Robin Toner and Robert Pear went label-crazy on conservatives in their story on Medicare coverage of prescription drugs, using the “conservative” label six times while avoiding “liberal” entirely. This in a story featuring Sen. Ted Kennedy.

• July 7 -- “Conservative” Communists?
“Hong Kong’s Message of Freedom” is a welcome editorial against Communist China’s repression of dissent in Hong Kong, but demonstrates the typical liberal media tactic of figuring out who the bad guys are, then labeling them “conservative.”

• July 1 -- The “Conservative” Supreme Court?
Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse marvels on the court’s “amazing final week.” Even more amazing: Greenhouse still believes the court lacks liberal voices.

• June 27 -- Behind the Times On Strom Thurmond’s Death
Friday’s obituary for Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond is headlined: “Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100.” It would have been nice if the Times had noted that Thurmond died a friend of integration.

• June 27 -- Angry Conservatives vs. Happy Gays
The Times goes label-happy on conservatives in its coverage of the Supreme Court’s sodomy ruling.

• June 26 -- The Times’ Tax Collector
Tax reporter David Cay Johnston is always willing to give the IRS a boost.

• June 25 -- There Are No Liberals Here
For the second day in a row, reporters Robin Toner and Robert Pear team up for labeling bias. On Wednesday it was liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer’s turn for a whitewash.

• June 25 -- Labeling Bias, at Home and In Israel
Greg Myre calls Hamas, whose goal is the destruction of Israel, an “Islamic group” and notes its “extensive network of schools, health clinics and welfare groups.”

• June 24 -- Old Liberal Labeling Habits Die Hard
Meet Sen. Ted Kennedy, “Democrat of Massachusetts”
Neil Lewis’s Supreme Court story uses the term “conservative” 12 times and calls Sen. Orrin Hatch a “leading conservative,” while ultra-liberal Sen. Ted Kennedy is simply a “Democrat of Massachusetts.”

• June 24 -- “Democrat of Massachusetts,” Part 2
Tuesday’s Times reverts to old habits. Robin Toner and Robert Pear’s story on the Medicare drug bill contains 10 “conservative” versus one “liberal” label, and again terms ultra-liberal Sen. Ted Kennedy simply as a “Democrat of Massachusetts.”

• June 24 -- Greenhouse’s Gaseous Grasp on Supreme Court Politics
Before the Supreme Court ruling upholding racial preferences, reporter Linda Greenhouse wrote an analysis absurdly claiming the Court lacks liberal voices.

• May 7 -- Yet Another “Moderate” Liberal at the Times
Times reporter Adam Nagourney positions presidential candidate Sen. Bob Graham as a “moderate Southerner,” but his voting record places him on the liberal fringe

• May 6 -- Sen. Carnahan--No “Centrist” She
A Times story on the political clout of small business labels ex-Sen. Jean Carnahan of Missouri a “centrist Democrat”—but her voting record is more liberal than that of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.

• May 5 -- Bush’s “Radical Right” Agenda?
Columnist Thomas Friedman accuses conservatives of using the war as an excuse to drive “its radical right agenda at home.”

• May 5 -- The Times Snowe Job
The Times PR drive for Republicans opposing Bush’s tax cut continues with a front-page story on “deficit hawk and fiscal conservative” Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe. But is she really?

• April 29 -- Eyeless in Gaza
James Bennet reports from Gaza on the strained friendship between the head of Fatah and the leader of Hamas—making it sound more like a spat between two neighborhood bakeries than two terror groups.

• April 28 -- The Times “Core Principles” of Hypocrisy, Part II
What’s the Times editorial line on states rights? What day is it?

• April 25 -- The Times Santorum Obsession
While piling on Sen. Rick Santorum over his remarks on gays, the Times claims the senator led the fight “to ban the procedure opponents call late-term abortion.” Actually, that’s only what the Times calls it. 

• April 24 -- Bitter Conservatives Attack…Senate Moderates
David Firestone paints conservatives as sore, frustrated losers: “Bitter about the success of Republican moderates in whittling down President Bush's tax cuts, Republican conservatives are planning to exact a political price for what they consider to be economic heresy.”

• April 21 -- “Death Squads” In Argentina, But Not Iraq
Elisabeth Bumiller wonders if the U.S. is guilty of “propaganda” and “loaded language” when it calls Iraqi’s fedayeen paramilitary groups “death squads.” But the Times isn’t so fussy when it comes to labeling “right-wing” death squads.

• April 14 -- You Can Trust Him…To Keep Your Taxes High
When the New York Times salutes a Republican senator as “a man of his word” not once but twice in one piece, alert readers know to watch their wallets.

• April 3 -- The Times Parrots The Military Line--On One Issue
The Times pits the “nuanced” liberal view of racial preferences versus the “absolutist” conservative one and drops its skepticism toward the military—because some retired officers are on the Times side.

• April 1 -- Dick Gephardt, Centrist?
Sheryl Gay Stolberg calls Dick Gephardt “a centrist who supports the president’s action in Iraq.”

• April 1 -- Bush’s Big Mistake: Underestimating Saddam’s Support
The Times questions whether Bush has “miscalculated the support Saddam Hussein enjoys.” Then there’s this: “Despite evidence that most Iraqis have not welcomed American forces, Mr. Bush cast himself as the country’s liberator.”

• March 17 -- Didn't Lerner Its Lesson
Eric Lichtblau's piece, "Tens of Thousands March Against Iraq War," included criticism of ANSWER, the hard-left organizers of the anti-war protest in Washington. ANSWER pleaded ignorance to the Times: "We don't police our speakers at all. People here raise Palestine, Colombia, everything, but it's all basically about peace." Michael Lerner might disagree. A classic liberal, editor of Jewish magazine Tikkun, he's not sufficiently anti-Israel for ANSWER, which barred him from addressing a rally. The Times reported it a week ago, but Lichtblau let ANSWER off the hook.

• March 14 -- Deborah Sontag Slimes the Fourth Circuit Court
Deborah Sontag delivered an 8,000-word whopper of bias for the Sunday magazine, profiling the "judicially active conservative" US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, based in Virginia. To Sontag, the fight for the soul of the Fourth Circuit pits compassionate upholders of individual rights versus business and Bush. She also wrote: "It would certainly help many Americans sustain their faith in the system if the courts could find their equilibrium, if they could become less ideological, less predictable and less political." But shouldn't courts, of all places, be predictable?

• March 12 -- Rightist's Inauguration Leads To Czech Suicide
Reporter Peter Green quoted from a Czech teen's suicide note critical of conditions in the Czech Republic. Green wrote: "Coincidentally or not, Mr. Adamec killed himself the day before the inauguration of the country's new president, Vaclav Klaus, a rightist former prime minister whom many Czechs see as the embodiment of the triumph of money and consumerism over the humanist idealism of his predecessor, Vaclav Havel." See what happens when you vote right-wingers into office?