Someone is being stonewalled over questions about why there was a one year delay in the New York Times publication of the National Security Agency eavesdropping story by James Risen and Eric Lichtblau.

I e-mailed a list of 28 questions to Bill Keller, the executive editor, on Dec. 19, three days after the article appeared. He promptly declined to respond to them. I then sent the same questions to Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the publisher, who also declined to respond. They held out no hope for a fuller explanation in the future.
[…]
The impact of a new book about intelligence by Mr. Risen on the timing of the article is difficult to gauge. The book, “State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration,” was not mentioned in the Dec. 16 article. Mr. Keller asserted in the shorter of his two statements that the article wasn’t timed to the forthcoming book, and that “its origins and publication are completely independent of Jim’s book.”

That “someone” is none other than the NYT Public Editor, Byron Calame.
h/t

Another day, another new stunning revelation. Still reeling from “Cookiegate”, reports have now surfaced that the White House website has a traffic counter.
h/t

Weird goings on at CBC Regina;

CBC National News with Peter Mansbridge gets introduced on the broadcast originating in Regina tonight at 10 pm. Mansbridge begins his intro of the lead story – the Ralph Goodale RCMP Investigation.
No sooner has Mansbridge begun, but commercials start running instead. This goes on for several minutes, returning to the feed only when reporter Caroline Dunn is wrapping up her report.
Mansbridge moves to an interview with Goodale. Less than a minute into the interview, commercials start running again, returning to the feed only at the very end of the interview.
After this, there are no other broadcast problems.

Commentor “Mentok”* caught it, too.
Update Blogging Blue put a call in to the CBC… and is still waiting for an explanation.

At the Ottawa Citizen/Vancouver Sun, they have trouble ciphering.

What exactly do they mean by this sentence?

But Harper stopped short Friday of vowing his party would avoid negative campaigning in its bid to mislead the public in his bid to form a Conservative government.

Update – SDA readers get results! The passage has been edited.

This photo, courtesy Canadian Press, ought to dispell those lingering fears about whether Stephen Harper is a closet Christian fundamentalist.

What with being the anti-Christ, and all.
Update
This black and white Reuter’s photo taken at almost the same time, seems to show larger pupils. It may be a matter of resolution or camera angle, but one still has to wonder about the editorial wisdom at Canadian Press in allowing a photo to be used with this degree of colour distortion.

It does here.
Dan Cook writes this morning [no permalinks???];

Yesterday, I reported on Stephen Harper’s candid chat with reporters. You remember – the one where he called Dalton McGuinty untrustworthy? Or most Premiers “hate” Paul Martin.
Turns out the Conservative party is now miffed: Spokesman William Stairs said, “we would have appreciated it if it were off the record.”
When you’re speaking to a journalist, does off the record exist anymore? I don’t think so.
Last word goes to CTV’s Robert Fife: “Nothing is ever off the record,” Fife said. But “anything that someone tells me will be reported in one way or another.”
“I was the one who said I will write about it,” he said, “and I did.”

And I would offer – “off the record” does indeed exist for politicians and officials that journalists are supportive of. Where else do you suppose those “unnamed sources” they love to quote arise?
Good question. If Robert Fife and the Globe are going to set aside the principle of allowing sources to speak “off the record”, I presume that from now on we can look forward to stories in which every party insider, disgruntled member, mischievous organizer and political power broker who is quoted will be duly named and their interests disclosed when offering up these juicy tidbits.
Doubtful though. So, when they get nothing but the canned party line from Conservatives in exchange for the cash they spend to follow these guys around, they might remember who changed the rules before whining about them.

CBCWatch;

CBC’s Henry Champ admitted on CBC Newsworld that Liberal spin doctors had misled them, but CBC never clarified on-air just how far they were led astray.

You all better sit down.
I’ve signed on for the duration of the election campaign with the CBC, writing at Election Roundtable, which isn’t so much a blog as it is a discussion page between five bloggers of varying background and ideology. I believe I’m there to represent the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. That’s what they’re going to get, anyway.
Expect about a post a day at the forum – I’ll let you know when they appear for your reading convenience, but they won’t be crossposted because of the nature of the agreement. Otherwise, my other blogging should remain unaffected.
The first post is up now. Let me know what you think.
Update – The reviews begin to roll in, and it seems that some of those on the left have jumped to the conclusion that I’ll move to foreign shores if the Liberals win the election.
It reminds me that the largely confusing nature of leftist ideology may actually be rooted in poor reading comprehension. One would think that a line that refers to the tearing up of the country would tip off even the most stubbornly resistant remedial reader about what I meant.

Bell Globemedia on one side, Liberal Party on the other, and a lobbyist in the middle;

A lobbyist for the corporate giant that owns two of this country’s most prominent media outlets is now running the Liberal campaign in Ontario in the upcoming federal election. Isn’t that lovely?

And like all good Liberal lobbyists, he comes with Earnscliffe credentials!
(Previous post here.)

CTV has launched an “election blog” with such distinguished authors as “CTV news editor” .
Get with the program, people – you represent a national media corporation. Sign your posts.
(Flashback – an unsigned email from a “CTV news producer”.)

Paul Tuns quotes Greg Staples;

“how can a campaign chairman for a party be allowed to work for the largest media conglomerate in Canada?” and how can Canadians “expect disinterested coverage from the Globe and Mail and CTV when one of their own employees is responsible for getting the Liberals re-elected in Ontario?” Especially when he’s the main source for the Globe’s front-page stories.

Last night on The World Tonight I said something about journalistic malpractice, and the lack of competition in media. I should have added that there is a nearly total absence of self criticism. A story like this should be among the top items nationally for “rival” news organizations, because it undermines the integrity of the industry, not to mention the legitimacy of the democratic process.
As I said, Greg asks good questions. Just don’t hold your breath waiting for these people to provide answers.

Stephanie Matteis of CBC’s The National e-mailed James Bow;

Hi James,
I’m hoping you can help?
I’m looking for someone who was going to vote Conservative in the last election but changed their minds along the way because they were scared, freaked out or worried about the Conservatives, the Conservative agenda or its leader. So, instead, they voted Liberal. Now you’re facing the same dilemma this time. If this describes you AND you are willing to travel for a couple of days next month AND you are willing to appear on television then please get in touch immediately.
If this doesn’t describe you, please feel free to forward this email to someone you feel might fit this description.
Thanks.

I suppose it’s possible the invites to those who were “going to vote Liberal in the last election but changed their minds along the way because they were disgusted, insulted or angry about the Liberals, the Liberal lack of agenda or Mr Dithers” are still in the mail qeue…
h/t Bob Tarantino, who didn’t get one, either.

Someone has some Xplainin’ to do…

Video here at Political Teen. I know there are some photo/graphics techies in the audience (Sean McCormick, I’m talking to you) – can anyone isolate the black lettering at the bottom of the image?
Update – A Winnipeg blogger gets ‘er done. CNN states it’s a technical glitch, but has launched an investigation. Maybe, but it sounds like a strange one. From Drudge – A rival network news director asks: “When has an ‘X’ ever aired on CNN before? Who had the graphic sitting in the key signal? Who generated the ‘X’?”