Walter Duranty, New York Times, 1922-1936
In Stalin’s Apologist, the definitive 1990 biography of Duranty, author S.J. Taylor demonstrates that Duranty toed the Communist line from the moment The New York Times assigned him—to his great delight—to the Soviet Union in 1921. In one of his first stories that year, about the aforementioned New Economic Policy, Duranty stated that “[Vladimir] Lenin has thrown communism overboard … abandoning state ownership, with the exception of a definite number of great industries of national importance—such as were controlled by the state in France, England and Germany during the war [World War I].” As Harvard historian Richard Pipes notes in his book Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime, Duranty’s stories stressing “Lenin’s alleged adoption of Western economic models … [were] very important for Moscow to convey at a time when it actively sought foreign credits.”
Herbert Matthews, New York Times, with Dead Castro
If you don’t know the name “Herbert Matthews,” but you think you know anything about Fidel Castro, you don’t know sh*t. Matthews was the master of journalistic fiction, and he and the New York Times are why you even know Castro’s name.
Matthews covered the Italian invasion of Ethiopia for the New York Times. He didn’t even try and hide his bias in favor of the Italian Fascists. He wrote, “[i]f you start from the premise that a lot of rascals are having a fight, it is not unnatural to want to see the victory of the rascal you like, and I liked the Italians during that scrimmage more than I did the British or the Abyssinians.” He admitted that whichever side was “right” was of no interest to him. For throwing in with Mussolini, he became known as a “fascist.”
His next posting was in Spain, covering the Spanish Civil War. He arrived still somewhat Right-Wing, sympathizing with Franco’s forces over the Republicans. However, somewhere along the way he became friends with Hemingway, and switched polarities. Hemingway based Robert Jordan, the main character in For Whom the Bell Tolls, on Matthews. From then on, he was considered to be a dear friend of the Left.
Dan Rather, CBS News
Enough said.
Christiane Amanpour, CNN
Every word out of her mouth including and and the…
The list goes on and on and on.
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