F.A.I.R. New York Times Killed "Bush Bulge" Story

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                   Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

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http://www.fair.org/press-releases/bush-bulge.html



PRESS RELEASE:

New York Times Killed "Bush Bulge" Story 



Five days before the presidential election, the New York Times killed a

story about the mysterious object George W. Bush wore on his back during

the presidential debates, journalist Dave Lindorff reveals in an exclusive

report on this week's CounterSpin, FAIR's weekly radio show.  The spiked

story included compelling photographic and scientific evidence that would

have contradicted Bush's claim that the bulge on his back was just a

matter of poor tailoring.



"The New York Times assigned three editors to this story and had it

scheduled to run five days before the election, which would have raised

questions about the president's integrity," said Lindorff. "But it was

killed by top editors at the Times; clearly they were chickening out of

taking this on before the election."



Lindorff says two other major newspapers, the Washington Post and the Los

Angeles Times, also decided not to pursue the story, which featured a

leading NASA satellite photo imaging scientist's analysis of pictures of

the president's back from the first debate.



The Times' bulge story is the latest example of possible self-censorship

by major news media during the election campaign.  In September, CBS's 60

Minutes decided to delay until after the election an investigative segment

that questioned the Bush administration's use of forged Niger uranium

documents in making its case for the Iraq war, saying that "it would be

inappropriate to air the report so close to the presidential election"

(New York Times, 9/25/04; FAIR Action Alert, 9/28/04).



And on September 10, CNN reporter Nic Robertson said of a CNN documentary

on Saudi Arabia, "I don't want to prejudge our executives here at CNN...

but I think we can be looking forward to [it] shortly after the U.S.

elections."  The segment is now scheduled to air this Sunday, five days

after the election.



Lindorff first broke the story of "the bulge" in Salon (10/8/04).  His

latest report, "Was Bush Wired? Sure Looks Like It," was published October

30 on MotherJones.com

(http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2004/11/10_407.html).



CounterSpin provides a critical examination of major media stories every

week, exposing issues the mainstream press misses. It is heard on more

than 130 noncommercial stations across the United States and Canada, and

can also be heard on FAIR's website.



To listen to Lindorff's CounterSpin interview (available in Real Audio in

MP3 format), go to:



http://www.fair.org/counterspin/110504.html



The interview begins 17 minutes and 30 seconds into the show.