Times surprised by reaction to McCain story

NY Daily News:

The embattled executive editor of the New York Times defended its John McCain story Friday with a novel explanation for the flood of critical e-mails the newspaper received: slow-witted readers.

"Personally, I was surprised by the volume of the reaction," Bill Keller wrote in a Times Web site Q&A forum. Readers posted 2,000 comments and sent in 3,700 questions.

"I was surprised by how lopsided the opinion was against our decision, with readers who described themselves as independents and Democrats joining Republicans in defending Mr. McCain from what they saw as a cheap shot," Keller added.

The problem, Keller went on, is that readers didn't get it.

"Frankly, I was a little surprised by how few readers saw what was, to us, the larger point of the story."

That point, he said, was that McCain, "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."

...

Perhaps most did not get it because the Times did not make its case. They came across like the Saudi mutaween who enforce the prohibitions against people of the opposite sex being in the same room or air plane together. Their story makes about as much sense as the Saudi sex cops. The allegations on the letters are old ones and most people seeing them do not think it is improper for a senator to ask an agency to do its job. He was not asking for a particular result or finding, just a decision on a case that had been pending a long time.

That the times was surprised by the reaction shows how out of touch the liberals in charge are.

The NY Post reports:

...

Times executive editor Bill Keller said he was taken aback by the record number of hostile comments - the most ever received by the paper about a story - because the widespread denunciation covered the entire political spectrum.

"I was surprised by how lopsided the opinion was against our decision, with readers who described themselves as independents and Democrats joining Republicans in defending Mr. McCain from what they saw as a cheap shot," Keller said in a posting on the Gray Lady's Web site.

...

The continued bad judgment of the staff of the paper is going to continue to take a toll on its circulation.