Southwestern College Collegian

Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: Campus Life

An article that ran in the New York Times on Feb. 21 has solicited some very angry responses. Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) was the subject of the article. It is a story that many feel cast the senator who is running for the presidential Republican nomination in a bad light. And as a result, for the last week accusations of poor journalism have been hurtled at the New York Times. The article questions the relationships, reputation, and decision making abilities of McCain. Since running the article the Times has received more than 4,000 questions regarding the story. And the editors of the Times have posted and answered some of the questions. In "Talk to the Newsroom: The McCain Article," executive editor Bill Keller, made an attempt to clarify the purpose for publishing the article. "According to people who know him well, this man who prizes his honor above all things and who appreciates the importance of appearances also has a history of being sometimes careless about the appearance of impropriety, about his reputation. The story cites several examples, and quotes friends and admirers talking of this apparent contradiction in his character." Many McCain supporters are outraged about the suggestion of an inappropriate relationship between McCain and lobbyist Vicki Iseman. The article implies that McCain was spending inappropriate amounts of time alone with Iseman, and that their relationship had become romantic. The article said, "A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fundraisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client's corporate jet. Convinced te relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself." The Times is also being criticized for the lack of attribution in the article. In "Talk to the Newsroom: The McCain Article," Frank Baitman of Baltimore, asked the Times editors this question. "There are numerous unnamed sources and a large number of 'staff' or 'campaign' officials who are quoted or used as references in this story. Has The New York Times exceeded good judgment by having absolutely no named individuals corroborating this story?" The Times editors answered that their senior editors knew the identities of the sources for the story. They were credible sources whose stories aligned. They attempted to talk their sources into divulging their names, but in the end had no choice but to protect the identities of their sources. McCain and his aides denied the article and the claim that he had any type of romantic relationship with Iseman. They said that he will no longer answer questions about the article But things haven't turned out too badly for McCain as a result of the article. Charles Black, a senior McCain adviser, said that Thursday "was the first day in the campaign that McCain won the day on conservative talk radio." McCain was also able to convert the potentially harmful article into campaign contributions. An e-mail to supporters said, "We need your help to counteract the liberal establishment and fight back against The New York Times by making an immediate contribution today." And the e-mail worked. McCain's campaign announced that it had its best 24 hours in online fundraising on the Friday after the article ran. Peggy Williams is a sophmore majoring in journalism. You may e-mail her at peggy.williams@sckans.edu. The New York Times initial article on McCain may be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us/politics/21mccain.html, And "Talk to the Newsroom: The McCain Article" may be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/business/ media/21askthenewsroom.html?pagewanted=all

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