The Grey Lady's blind spot

By the admission of its public editor, The New York Times is thoroughly saturated in liberal theology in its approach to certain social issues. Those that accuse the newspaper of a liberal bias in its coverage of 'hard news', will count the column inches devoted to the honouring of a fallen Navy SEAL this week.

On Monday, President George Bush will present the Medal of Honour to the parents of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, a New York native who was killed in Afghanistan. The Times chose not to report on the story a fortnight ago -- a decision that was sharply criticised by conservative media. Other New York and national papers covered the story with pictures and headlines.

The 'Grey Lady' has been doing plenty of soul-searching of late. In 2004, it admitted that its coverage of the Iraq war was, among other things, insufficiently critical of the George Bush administration. Yet last month saw the MoveOn.org ad controversy, when the Times ran a full-page advertisement for the liberal public policy organisation questioning the integrity of General David Petraeus, the commander of US forces in Iraq.

The Times said last week that it does plan to run something about the award -- though it may not be enough to stanch accusations of partiality from its detractors.