David Mandel has sent us a copy of his message to the New York Times public editor:
Sir: I write concerning “Bronx Boys Club Finances Investigated,” Metro Section, August 12, 2005, B3.
1. There is nothing in the story to explain the huge delay in publishing this story. The case has been simmering for months. There is no date assigned to Air America’s promise to repay these funds, although the piece itself refers to an agreement for repayment. Why doesn’t the story follow this? If the agreement was in writing why no mention of this, why no date, why no copy of it? Who were the people who made the agreement? Have any payments been made pursuant to it? The piece is mute on these important questions.
2. The story is sketchy and vague about where the funds went. There is no mention in it of when the funds were advanced and in what amounts. Did they end up in the coffers of Air America? There is nothing in the piece to indicate that this question was asked. If the funds did not go into Air America’s accounts, why did not the reporter ask some responsible executive why Air America agreed to repay them?
3. Why does the piece quote Al Franken on financial matters? Finance is not his metier. Doesn’t Air America have a treasurer, a CFO? Why is there no mention of this person.
4. This story has been reported in the Post, News, and the NYSun. None of the facts reported in those papers are different from the NYTimes account. Why no acknowledgment of this?
5. The story had its genesis in a local Bronx newspaper months and months ago. Why no mention of that?
6. Why the dismissive wave of the NYTimes hand at the Internet and conservative websites. Yes, Michelle Malkin, Radio Equalizer, Hugh Hewitt and a bunch of others have carried the story for weeks and weeks. Their accounts are not contradicted by the NYTimes. It is easy to see that Progressive websites refused to touch the story with a ten foot pole — no enemies on the Left, wouldn’t you say? Why was the NYTimes so stubbornly silent? Was the NYTimes hoping the scandal, amply documented, would go away if not acknowledged by it? Now if Rush had been involved…But let’s not dwell on the obvious.
7. Last week a copy of an internal memo at Air America surfaced to show that Air America’s payroll processor, the largest and most responsible in the world, had failed to make direct deposit to staffers on payday. The suggestion that ADP was to blame, not that Air America had not met payroll requirements for ADP to make direct deposits, is loony. How come the NYTimes reporter couldn’t find this out?
This is a deplorable exercise. It should be brought to the attention of the moose keeper at the Times.
Faithfully,
David Mandel
Oompah of Tympanium
Michelle Malkin declares: “Air Enron: The dam bursts.” The dam is more or less holding at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The hard copy of today’s paper carries (on page A9) yesterday’s lame Times story (linked above), without the correction that the Times has appended to it: “Liberal radio network mired in investigation.” A sorry performance.
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