March 10, 2011

NYT caption — "Protesters assembled outside a door that the police were blocking at the Wisconsin Capitol on Wednesday" — wilfully obscures that the mob overran the police last night and took over the building.

And look at that photograph — illustrating what is their main article on the Wisconsin protest right now! A noble state trooper stands calmly on the inside, while 3 gentle, wistful individuals peer in through the windows of the securely closed doors. A nice lesson in how to lie with photographs and captions. Scroll down to see our coverage of the anarchic doings at the Capitol. Protesters came through the windows and doors last night, hooting and stampeding and sending the police into retreat.

The NYT article begins...
CHICAGO — A bill sharply curtailing collective bargaining rights for government workers in Wisconsin is due for a vote in the State Assembly on Thursday morning, where it is all but sure to pass. The State Senate approved similar legislation Wednesday with only Republican members casting votes; the chamber’s Democratic minority, who fiercely oppose the measure, remain out of the state.
Chicago! What about the mob scene? Well, there's this in paragraph 6:
Democrats in the State Assembly complained bitterly, and protesters, who had spent many days at the Capitol, continued their chants and jeers.
Uh, yeah. Chants and jeers... And taking over the building, climbing in windows? Nothing. The article goes on, but there's nothing more about the protests, and NYT readers are left with the inane, deceptive image of that photograph and caption.

UPDATE, March 10, 12:36 CT: The photograph, caption, and headline at the above link have all changed now. The picture discussed above, with its caption, can be seen here. The new first paragraph of the story — which now has the dateline "MADISON, Wis." — is:
As thousands of demonstrators converged on the Capitol, the police cut off access to the building on Thursday, creating a taut atmosphere in which Republican State Assembly members were seeking to maintain order long enough to vote on a bill that sharply curtails bargaining rights for government workers.
Cut off access? But they stormed in last night, overwhelming the police, and they were blocking legislators access to offices and the Assembly chamber this morning. I just heard by phone from Meade that 100 protesters had to be removed (presumably by police) from the antechamber to the Assembly chamber. The NYT paragraph makes it sound as though the police maintained control, but they absolutely did not. And "taut atmosphere"? Ridiculous downplaying of the chaotic scenes that have been unfolding for the last 18 hours.

64 comments:

Chennaul said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Calypso Facto said...

Captain Renault: "I'm shocked, SHOCKED, to find dissembling going on at the NYT!"

blake said...

o/~They climbin' in your windows,
Waking your people up,
Tryin to rape 'em,
So all y'all better,
Hide the kids,
Hide the cash,
Hide the kids,
Hide the cash,
Hide the kids,
Hide the cash,
And hide your wallets,
'cause they rapin' everyone out there\~o

Anonymous said...

Well that is the same paper which employed both Walter Duranty and Jayson Blair. Deception is nothing new there.

KCFleming said...

NYT: All the News That Fits the Narrative.

Kevin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chennaul said...

Well interesting-here the NYT has a shot of the protesters blocking the doors to the State Assembly room from the inside-with a large table and with protesters sitting on it.


WI Protesters Block Assembly Room in the NYT!

****

Anonymous said...

The New York Times truly must die. "Pinch" you have destroyed your families legacy and fortune. You must be a big hit at holiday dinners and such. No?

Moonfeather.rift said...

Outfits like the NYT are useful from a news perspective now because whatever their take or spin on a newstory is less important than what they refuse to cover. The real news is what they don't say. Anything they fail to mention is the real news of the day. So all the pablum they talk about these events are the non-news parts. The violence and anarchy are the real news they don't want you to find out.

So thank you again NYT for telegraphing the real story.

Kevin said...

Interesting that the Times is trying to suppress the fact that a mob took over the Capitol. Shows that the NYT thinks these tactics aren't quite as popular as they claim...

Toad Trend said...

SOP for the NYT.

"The medium is the massage" ~ McLuhan

Moose said...

Oh my god, this is getting old. "Working Families"? Like state and local workers have anything to do with non-unionized privately employed workers? What the fuck?

These twits are getting a much better deal than any similarly paid factory worker. They have the gall to make this sound like a fatcat/union conflict. What they're getting is the state resident's tax money. And pitching a hissy fit when they have to come down to the ground floor with everyone else.

Ye gods...

Chennaul said...

Would the NYT get that they are helping the Republicans with that shot?

It makes the 2 hour notice-justified-right there.

RIght now the NYT probably thinks that is a "heroic" shot.

Hopefully it stays there...

Kevin said...

The New York Times truly must die. "Pinch" you have destroyed your families legacy and fortune. You must be a big hit at holiday dinners and such. No?

Apparently there are a lot of Sulzbergers who've never worked a day in their lives who are getting a lettle nervous that Pinch is running the paper into the ground...

KCFleming said...

" The real news is what they don't say."

Notably, that's how Soviet citizens once read Pravda.

Henry said...

The devil is in the details -- and the details are in the photo slideshow

Meade's photo of the handcuffs should win a Pulitzer for Breaking News Photography. Or the one where protesters march past the Capitol police.

Here's how to enter.
http://www.pulitzer.org/how_to_enter

deborah said...

lol blake, this calls for an actual link!

Chennaul said...

Check out the link I posted above-it goes to the sixth picture in the NYT's slideshow.

That does not help the Democrats-at all.

Anonymous said...

twitter ^ | 3/10/2011 | m
MMFlint

Hundreds of students at Madison West High have just walked out & r marching 2 Capitol bldg--& police r escorting them! #wiunion

Revenant said...

& police r escorting them! #wiunion

Why are police escorting them? That's sort of weird.

Sprezzatura said...

The chaotic mob of Madison.

*SCARY*

Anonymous said...

MSM: Fail

Epic fail ...

.

Henry said...

Why are police escorting them?

So they don't get lost.

Revenant said...

The New York Times truly must die. "Pinch" you have destroyed your families legacy and fortune.

The newspaper used to run puff pieces on the Soviet Union, which at that time held the world record for genocide and political oppression.

So I have to ask -- "legacy"?

The Dude said...

The police need to be fired - they are union abettors at this point.

Chase said...

Again, sigh . . . how many times do I have to tell you?


It's the New York Frickin' Times!

Anonymous said...

"So I have to ask -- "legacy"?"

What you say is true Revenant.

But the newspaper of record?

Not anymore.

Drew said...

Why is the dateline "Chicago"? Couldn't they get a reporter to Madison? Do they even know where the hell Madison is?

Unknown said...

From the Gray Lady she expects honesty?

Never has the motto Mad magazine created for the Times 50 years ago been so apt, "All the news that fits, we print.".

WV "speedho" Fast lady.

traditionalguy said...

The NYT not only does not know any news from Madison, they are not even interested in learning any news from Madison. That is scary when it is coupled with the current Obama drive to censor or dissuade use of the internet with burdensome Federal Regulations.

Cindy Martin said...

I'm sure a few of those NYT editors are on the union payroll.

Sprezzatura said...

"Democrats in the State Assembly complained bitterly, and protesters, who had spent many days at the Capitol, continued their chants and jeers."

Bitterly clinging to complaining, chants, and jeers. Hard to see why the Ds are seen as pansies (at least Althouse sees them as an assertive, chaotic mob; most folks just yawn).

MadisonMan said...

There was no escort when I passed the West High kids at Regent/Monroe. (I was driving home)

Kevin said...

Why is the dateline "Chicago"? Couldn't they get a reporter to Madison? Do they even know where the hell Madison is?

Chicago, Madison... to a New Yorker, what's the difference? It's all flyover country...

Calypso Facto said...

Do they even know where the hell Madison is?

Close enough for NYT work.

ricpic said...

Is it more important to the cops to be popular than to maintain law and order? Legislators have been blocked from the floor of the chamber. Why no arrests?

george said...

Add to the list of things WI does not have or is paying too much for... truancy officers.

BTW, Ann truly does have my condolences. It must be very hard to find out so many of your colleagues are at heart lunatics.

But I must point out yet again that all of this was perfectly foreseeable when Obama was elected. Ann has absolutely no right to complain until she unreservedly repudiates her vote in the last election (perhaps she has and I missed it). Even then her judgment will always be considered suspect for missing so much that was so obvious.

Electing a community organizer and obvious socialist could end no other way than in massive and perpetual strife. That is all they know how to do.

Peter V. Bella said...

Chicago! This means the NYT scribbler is in an office here and not where the (in)action is.

The photog should be writing the story, not some pooch in an office in Chicago.

Steve Koch said...

It has been apparent for many years that the vast majority of "journalists" are actually just paid propagandists for the Dems. Shouldn't we by default call them propagandists rather than journalist? The term journalist would then be reserved for those rare people who actually rigorously attempt to be unbiased observers/reporters of what is going on.

Anonymous said...

Local law enforcement is getting a massive black eye here.

Chennaul said...

I hope Meade is getting lots and lots of shots of the mob blocking access like the shot NYT buried in the slideshow.

Is anyone else getting shots like that?

YoungHegelian said...

I just don't understand what's the possible endgame for the unions and their supporters here.

Shut down the WI legislature until the next election and hope Dems win a majority? Terrorize the Republican legislators until they change their minds?

The longer this goes on the more the movement will be co-opted by out-of-state concerns, including a large dollop of lefty loons (like it hasn't happened already?).

I just can't see how this is going to end well for the unions.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

PETER V. BELLA said...

Chicago! This means the NYT scribbler is in an office here and not where the (in)action is.

Chicago is still where the 14 are, isn't it? The reporter was probably there interviewing them.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Pravda would be proud as the NYT cynically assumes its readers are uninformed sheeple.

Peter V. Bella said...

Supposedly some of the 14 are here. Who knows? I heard a few were spotted in some of the hook-up bars. You could tell by the pick-up lines- "Hey baby I'm from Wisconsin. Wanna come to my room and see my union suit?"

kent said...

[...] the NYT cynically assumes its readers are uninformed sheeple.

Tragically, there's nothing even remotely cynical about that particular assumption.

Rick Caird said...

Didn't Bill Keller say this week that Fox is not "fair and balanced" and that sogan is "cynical"?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-08/new-york-times-editor-bill-keller-defends-fox-news-comments-insists-papers-coverage-is-fair/

Well, we can tell how "fair and balanced" the NYT Madison reporting is.

Fred said...

The Wisconsin winter palace ....

virgil xenophon said...

"This is all they know how to do."

BINGO GEORGE!!! Spot on! (As the British are wont to say) Bullseye! I'M surprised that anyone could possibly even BE surprised--but obviously enough people chose to willfully ignore the facts before their face if only they had the will to look--proving once again that it's only necessary to "fool enough of the people enough of the time."

MadisonMan said...

Chicago is still where the 14 are, isn't it?

From what I've read, they're on their way back

SGT Ted said...

Pro-union propaganda from the NYT? No way!

kjbe said...

From what I've read, they're on their way back

Actually, they're waiting to see until the Assembly's vote is over to decide (straight from one of the 14)

BarrySanders20 said...

And the after-hours invasion was in direct violation of the court's order, a fact the Times readers might think is relevant.

Phil 314 said...

Later, Mr. Cullen and Ms. Coggs could be seen climbing into the building through a first-floor window.

That reminds me of this

And so I quit the police department
And got myself a steady job
And though she tried her best to help me
She could steal but she could not rob

Fen said...

I just don't understand what's the possible endgame for the unions and their supporters here.

Governors across the nation are watching Walker VS the Unions. If the Union Brats lose in WI, there's a good chance this type of Budget Reform will sweep the nation. If *that* happens, the kickback scheme that forces workers to donate to the Democrat Party will be broken up:

1) Unions will lose most of their power, money and influence. These are the footsoldiers of the Democrats.

2) There will be fewer Democrats elected to office. At every level.

3) It weakens the Teachers Union, making reform of the Public School system easier.

So, bottom line - the Unions are fighting for their lives. Their endgame is to subvert Democracy or die trying. Expect them to become violent.

Amartel said...

Pure propaganda, dateline: Chicago. Next we'll hear non-sourced second-hand accounts of thousands of bodies "stacked like cordwood" inside the Wisconsin Capitol building, Republicans running amok, raping, murdering, cannibalizing, and looting. Sean Penn will parachute in to save the day and Jesse Jackson Jr will be slated to play him in the movie.

WV: "mongers" (I kid you not)

gloogle said...

Dammit, Ann & Meade deserve some kind of friggin' award for this work. Pulitzers are just a bunch of crap handed out by MSM hacks. I say they be the first to be awarded the Citizen Journalists of the Year Award, hereafter to be known as the Meadehouse Award.

I also propose that the name "Pinch" be verbified, a la "fisked", but specifically meaning "to illustrate the egregiously biased errors of omission in a newspaper's coverage".

Fen said...

Pure propaganda, dateline: Chicago. Next we'll hear non-sourced second-hand accounts of thousands of bodies "stacked like cordwood" inside the Wisconsin Capitol building, Republicans running amok, raping, murdering, cannibalizing, and looting.

Yup. And don't forget that we "used dogs to keep blacks from going to the polls in Florida 2000".

Oh, and spitting. Apparently we have superpowers - if we spit on congressmen and call them n*ggers, no video cam within 1,000 meters can record it...

I think I liked it better when they just called me a Nazi.

Anonymous said...

Excuse me while I go "Pinch" a loaf.

Like that?!

Fen said...

Actually, I think I prefer that.

Dear Liberals, instead of always demonizing me as a racist sexist homophobic bitter-clinging xenophobic radical-right-wing global warming denier and heretic, just call me a Nazi.

It will save bandwidth.

blake said...

Yes, it does, Deborah, thank you.

I must add that this whole thing is almost as intense as a double rainbow.

PaulV said...

Are the protesters in contempt of court. Fine them to help balance the budget.

PaulV said...

Are the protesters in contempt of court. Fine them to help balance the budget.

WV: doodeat fem. of dude

Unknown said...

NYT to mob: "What you have found the most enchanting about the capitol"?