NEW YORK, NY Aug. 10 (DPI) – For weeks this summer the NY Times minimized the unrest in Seattle – even likening it to a “block party” – until more recent reports suggested the picture wasn’t quite so festive.
To its credit last week, the NYT finally took a look at the impact on small businesses, and that report invited something of a backlash from readers. Scores of readers widely criticized the NYT for glossing over the lawlessness and intimidation that dominated parts of downtown Seattle this summer in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.
The headline: “Abolish The Police? Those Who Survived The Chaos in Seattle Aren’t So Sure.”
Five of the six most popular comments attached to the report:
This is pretty amazing because I certainly don’t recall the NYT reporting on the chaos while it was occurring. The NYT reports made it sound like Seattle was having a block party when in fact the opposite was true. I saw some reports of the chaos on Facebook, but figured it was just right wing propaganda. I guess I’ll have to get serious about getting the truth from many news sources going forward. It’s naive to think that news reporting is not influenced by political agendas of those reporting it. I’m liberal, but I still like to know the truth even if it flies in the face of my beliefs and forces me to rethink them rationally.
It would appear that being ‘woke’ means getting everything 50% right while being 100% sure of one’s own brilliance and moral superiority. Yes, we need justice reform, which means spending more on it, not less. Yes, street action is sometimes necessary, and so are the police who have been so demonized in the last couple of months that the kind of people who would actually do the job correctly won’t even consider being a cop anymore. Yes, George Floyd was brutally and unjustly murdered, and yes, he was once jailed for holding a gun on a pregnant woman of color and demanding her money. I imagine she would have liked to have had some police protection right about then. There are no easy answers here, but I’m afraid that my ‘woke’ friends are going to keep insisting that there are.
“Faizel Khan was being told by the news media and his own mayor that the protests in his hometown were peaceful, with ‘a block party atmosphere.’” That’s what the Times was messaging, over and over, in its “reporting.” So much for reporting facts. Credit to the Times for at least running this overdue story, but it should likewise take some responsibility for its own actions. That’s something the resolutely and intolerantly woke Times leadership seems to have taken from the Trumpian playbook the last few years – never admit you’re wrong, never apologize.
I live two blocks from the former “CHOP” zone, this is my neighborhood, I had frequent many of the businesses affected. I’m a Democrat who voted for Sawant over an Amazon backed candidate (chagrin leaves a bitter taste). What I witnessed was a total break down of civil society. It felt like the beginning of the end, my worst fears realized. No one has “won” anything. We lost a mayor, the city council, the police, our neighborhood, any sense that ANYTHING was being done, except perhaps letting the temper tantrums of petulant children play out. Except these kids didn’t live here, had guns, intimidated my neighbors, and ruined property. The police pouting in their corner, grasping for power, patently ignoring legitimate calls for help. The wild west. The valuable BLM message completely hijacked by self-appointed, disaffected, white, non-residents playing “security”. The ANTITHESIS of peaceful protest. An abdication of responsibility to the residents and businesses already in shock from the various crisis roiling all around. I saw no “parlay” or communication from any party. Ignorance, anger, garbage, and destruction on full display. Frustration, acrimony, lots of finger-pointing but zero attempts at any robust peacemaking. To say that I am disappointed by Seattle’s response to a desperate need is an understatement. Shame on all parties! And congratulations! A valuable and cathartic opportunity completely squandered! I am actively looking for somewhere else to live.
Bari Weiss said it best, as long as the venom is going in the right direction it’s fine for the NYT. Like you I’ve been seeing the blatant bias in this paper that is the lefts equivalent to Fox News. Clean it up NYT. We’re here for the best reporting not your progressive narratives.