Welcome to fill-in-the-blanks journalism: How a _______ conspiracy theory about _________ went viral!

 

The New York Times piles on:

A specious theory on pardons had help from the conservative Heritage Foundation before President Trump and right-wing influencers amplified it.

And this, of course, was a first!

According to Merriam-Webster, the first-known use of the phrase 'conspiracy theory', as in a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators, occurred in 1873.

Other coinages from the same year include:

1. academic freedom
2. anti-nationalist
3. coconspirator
   
4. nonbinary
5. steamroller

When it comes to political reporting, there's plenty that's wrong with the New York Times.

March 2025

Headline writer provides Trump political cover.  (3/10)

What happens when legacy media normalize and sanewash First Felon Donald Trump for 10 years.  (3/9)"Man on the Street interview: Chance for New York Times reporter Kellen Browning to brush up on his transcription skills".  (3/6)
January-February 2025Normalizing and sanewashing First Felon Donald Trump continues unabated.  (2/26)

PBS gives cowering New York Times a lesson in headline writing. (2/25)

Trump and Musk take a wrecking ball to democracy while the New York Times revives silly 1960s-era "man on the street" interviews.  (2/18)

Mistaking energy for incompetence that leads to chaos and confusion.  (2/6)New York Times goes all in to normalize latest round of Trump chaos and confusion.  (2/5)The GOP is coming for your birth control and Louisiana is leading the way.  (2/1)Trump administration unleashes first volley in Project 2025 attack on public broadcasting and the New York Times is asleep at the wheel. (1/31)

November 2024

The election is over and they're still searching out and cataloging disengaged (NOT undecided) voters.  (11/13)

Getting back to the business of normalizing the Trump Cult.  (11/7)

October 2024

Jess Bidgood struggles to find her mojo as contributor to "On Politics" newsletter.  (10/21)

Trump goes bonkers in campaign's final stretch.  (10/19)

Headline sanewashes Trump's Nazi rhetoric.  (10/10)

Framing its political coverage with stale, silly sports metaphors.  (10/10)

Sanewashing Demented Donald Trump rallies.  (10/9)

New York Times headlines mash-up of VP debate:  Vance 'made Trumpism sound polite, calm and coherent' with a cascade of false and misleading statements. (10/6/2024) 

Majority of 13 writers charmed by the smarm of JD Vance.  (10/2)

September 2024

Mindblowing, sanewashing dissonance of headline and lede.  (9/26)

David Leonhardt goes on the defensive.  (9/17)

Reporters drowning in false equivalencies.  (9/5)

July-August 2024

British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan sums up the sins of The New York Times.  (8/31)

Political reporters continue to amaze with their transcription skills.  (8/7)

Just when you thought the New York Times political reporting couldn't get any worse.  (7/24)

Welcome to the Club!  New York Times Shawn McCreesh is Trump's latest victim of The Art of the Con.  (7/18)

Peter Baker conducts a master class in false equivalency.  (7/16)

June 2024

But it's OK for a serial liar, unregenerate fraud, wannabe authoritarian, and convicted felon to run for president.  (6/28)

New York Times might as well be on Trump's payroll. (YOU'RE HIRED!).  (6/28)

New York Times works overtime to normalize the 2024 presidential election.  (6/26)

Are the pollsters and political reporters making the same rush to judgment they did in 2022?  (6/10)

May 2024

Apparently, the New York Times is still focused on Donald Trump's "family man" defense.  (5/16)

Four New York Times reporters promote "family man" defense for Donald Trump in hush-money trial. (5/4)

New York Times courtroom reporters party like it's a black-and-white Raymond Burr Perry Mason festival.  (5/3)

When it comes to framing the 2024 presidential election, Peter Baker and the New York

April 2024

The New York Times perfects the technique of bending over backwards for Donald Trump.  (4/18)

10 -- count 'em -- 10 New York Times reporters help Trump pan for campaign gold.  (4/15)

New York Times, 4/12/2024, page A10:  Doomsday double bill.  (4/12)

Once again, a New York Times headline writer misses the mark. (4/1)

March 2024

Leave it to the New York Times to come up with an incorrect and exceedingly lame headline.  (3/8)

February 2024

Meet Natalie Brumfield, New York Times go-to for positives about Alabama Supreme Court decision on embryos.  (2/23)

January 2024

 Times get it terribly wrong.  (1/25)

2023

New York Times reporter Peter Baker ignores Jennifer Rubin's admonition to mainstream media.  (10/3)

2019

Like many others, New York Times reporter Peter Baker got snookered by William Barr's 4-page summary.  (4/19)

2018

Dear Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman, Next time please interview someone who doesn't have an ax to grind. (10/31)