NYT deeply confused about military funeral protests

August 22, 2007

This is just so frustrating.

In a report today on Sen. Barack Obama’s appearance this week at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Kansas City, New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleney took a decidedly wrong turn in referring to one statement.

Zeleney wrote that Obama “said it was wrong for anti-war activists to protest at military funerals, declaring: ‘It needs to stop’.”

Here’s what Obama actually said: “And our sacred trust does not end when a service-member dies. The graves of our veterans are hallowed ground. When men and women who die in service to this country are laid to rest, there must be no protests near the funerals. It’s wrong and it needs to stop.”

You’ll notice, of course, that he didn’t make any references to “anti-war activists,” the way the NYT reported it.

There’s a very good reason for that: anti-war activists don’t protest at military funerals.

The NYT’s Jeff Zeleney has heard about these protests and apparently assumed that those picketing a military funeral are somehow opposed to the war. Regrettably, Zeleney is terribly confused, and attributed a sentiment to Obama that the senator did not say and does not believe. The only organized protests at military funerals in this country have come from one twisted family of hyper-conservative Christian fundamentalists, who believe U.S. fatalities in Iraq are God’s punishment for tolerance of homosexuality.

It’s an interesting mistake for the NYT to make, because it belies a certain bias — despite all we’ve seen in recent years, reporters still instinctively believe that only the far-left is capable of demonstrating at a funeral for a fallen soldier, when in fact, it’s the far-right.

Post Script: It’s worth noting, by the way, that the NYT has messed this up before.

Last year, on June 17, the Times ran a correction after an op-ed also referred to antiwar protesters at funerals:

“An Op-Ed article on Monday, about demonstrations at military funerals, hospitals and memorial services, incorrectly described the protesters at the military funerals discussed in the article. In some cases, the protesters were members of an anti-gay group, not people opposed to the Iraq war; in others, the families of the dead service members were unable to determine the affiliation of the protesters.”

And yet, here we are again, with a reporter (and, apparently, his editor) not realizing who’s doing the protests and what twisted, right-wing ideology motivates them.

Could someone please forward this article to Michael Skube? This must be the sort of diligent, patient fact-finding that ‘real reporters’ do…

  • give zeleney’s name to fred phelps and tell fred that zeleney is pro-gay. by the time fred got done with him, zeleney would never again forget who it is that protests at military funerals.

  • No wonder the world is so fucked up, when you have leading media outlets spewing eggregious errors, people start believing shit like Hussein being involved in 9/11.

    Die, old media.

    Just die.

  • screwing the pooch that badly on a story (any story) should be grounds for dismissal from the podunk weekly shopper, let alone the good gray times. alas, only the beginner at the weekly would probably be canned. zeleney will probably get promoted.

  • Can’t rely on the television media to tell you the truth, can’t find it in the print media, either, so I guess the “new” journalism is “just report whatever you feel like – we have no interest in whether it’s right or not.”

    This goes hand-in-hand with the other tenet of “new” journalism: “if we have to be accurate in reporting what someone actually says, we can juxtapose it against something it was never connected to and make it all wrong that way.”

    This is pathetic and frustrating and getting worse, by the day. It does not bode well for the election itself, because by the time people actually head out to vote, their heads will be filled with so much misinformation and outright lies that their votes may be based on which ones were the loudest, to the detriment of the entire process – and, perhaps – the result.

    Grrrr.

  • This was so bad…I sent a letter to the editor of the NY Times.

    Whether it were intentional and subtle “double speak” and propaganda, or just sloppy reporting…I don’t know. But regardless, if this is the new standard for NY Times reporting Americans are doomed to even more ignorance and misinformation. Which in turn will secure the Corporatocracy. Good by America.

  • I just went to the NYT website (11:30 EST), and read Zeleney’s story. The reference to military funerals was nowhere to be found. Maybe someone pointed this out to him and the article revised accordingly?

  • I had Eeyore’s experience. Got to check my hard copy at home to see if Zeleny’s mistake made the print edition. If so, a note to the public editor is in order.

  • It is the Phelps clan from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka that protests funerals. They are not anti-war protesters. They are end-timers and attention whores.

  • You know, Haik, you ought to point out that his correction (a mere deletion) is inadequate. It suggests that Obama’s criticism is noteworthy only if it was a criticism of war protesters, that is, of the left. I think it is equally noteworthy that Obama (unlike Zeleny) was aware of the tasteless, indeed offensive, actions of right-wing fundamentalists and was willing to criticize them. Zeleny should not be choosing only those quotes from Obama that put war protesters in a bad light — he ought to note them when they criticize the fundamentalist right as well.

    In short, his omission is as biased as his original quote.

  • In re: Phelps…..

    If you want to be totally appalled and disgusted, go to his website http://www.godhatesfags.com. This is sponsored by Rev. Phelps’ church.

    Warning: this is NOT for the weak of heart.

    Perhaps someone should send Mr. Zeleney that link, with the information that THIS is the group that is protesting at military funerals, not left-wingers.

  • Got to check my hard copy at home to see if Zeleny’s mistake made the print edition. If so, a note to the public editor is in order.

    I just looked and didn’t see it.

    I would add to Eeyore’s warning about Freddie (Kruger) Phelp’s website that it people with high bp ought to stay away as well. I’d say they’re sick bastards but that would be an insult to unhealthy people born to unmarried parents.

    Although I think a story about Talevangicals disrupting a military funeral might be of interest to an intrepid reporter. That and the groups that come out and form human shields against these two-legged pigs.

  • Why did Obama even mention protests at military funerals? I mean really, what was the point? Would Obama trying to imitate Jack Kennedy come out like, “Ask not what your country can do for you,… Ask what ever happened to my country”?

  • Not in the online version of the NYT, not in the hard copy (I checked, too). Wonder if the E&P has a screen capture or something to backup their claim. Otherwise, the left’s uproar (and it’s all over the place) about something that apparently has not happened will seem as harebrained as the right’s periodic raises to a false bait.

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