Discount biased opinions

I think we can all agree that the war in Iraq and the George W. Bush administration have been repeatedly scrutinized by the media and a majority of the world. The website moveon.org loved to criticize Bush, but in the fall of 2007 they went too far when they bashed a well-respected General David Petraeus in an ad in The New York Times.

They misjudged the amount of pride shared by Americans for their armed forces. But it’s not surprising to me to hear public outcry over a company questioning someone who served to protect American rights. I love knowing that if someone tries to unrightfully criticize a well-respected general who fought for our nation that Americans will not just accept it. However, the real mistake here was not by moveon.org but by The New York Times who gave the company a $70,000 discount on the ad.

In a time where the public is constantly claiming that there is bias in our news, this type of behavior is unacceptable. Although I can see how it would be extremely tempting it would be to give discounts to ads that you agree with, there is no place for it in journalism. Today, journalism education preaches the importance of delivering unbiased news. Showing this type of left-wing favoritism surely hurt The NY Times reputation and credibility. If they’re biased about their ads, what makes me think they are unbiased in their content?

The Times ended up charging MoveOn the normal price for an ad, but I don’t know if that reaction was enough. That doesn’t change the fact that they were biased or restore any of my faith in them. Perhaps firing the salesperson who permitted the discount or doing some type of campaign to reassure the public that they are not doing favors for liberals would be more beneficial. Their response doesn’t fully address the seriousness of the issue, because it’s not about the money; it’s about trust. They already lost that trust when they provided the discount, and they should address that fact and show the public how they plan to make changes to ensure that it won’t happen again.