The stark idiocy of the New York Times

If I wanted to drive a newspaper into the ground, I would follow the New York Times' game-plan. They seem to be executing on a vision to drive shareholder value right into the tarmac. This morning's online edition clarifies their wanton self-destructiveness. Given the arrests of terrorists plotting to destroy the PATH tunnels in and around Manhattan, I expected at least one of the lead stories to mention this little nugget of info.

After all, if I lived in the NYC area, I'd definitely want to see what my fellow commuters and city-goers could have experienced had the nimnulls been able to pull off the attack.

So I visited the Times site. And I couldn't find the story on the front-page. I scanned the entire page several times. The lead stories, in order, were:

General Faults Marine Response to Iraq Killings - Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli has concluded that some senior Marine officers were negligent in failing to investigate the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha last November, officials said. * Joint Raid Captures 2 Linked to Rebel Shiite Leader * Officer Ready to Plead Guilty in Bribery Case New Jersey Governor Ends Weeklong Shutdown - Gov. Jon S. Corzine issued an executive order early Saturday after lawmakers approved a $30.9 billion budget that increases the state sales tax. * Drastic Action, Modest Result in New Jersey That's What Friends in High Places Are For - Senator Orrin G. Hatch intervened to obtain the release of music producer Dallas Austin from a Dubai jail. * Graphic: The Tale of the Producer's Pardon An Internet Lifeline for Troops in Iraq - For this generation of soldiers, the Internet has softened the blow of separations that can make strangers out of husbands and wives. Israel Pulls Forces Back From North Gaza - Israeli forces withdrew from most of the northern Gaza Strip after three days of fierce fighting, but clashes erupted on the outskirts of Gaza City. * A Day of Funerals Across the Northern Gaza Strip Here's Proof That New Yorkers Like to Complain - Thousands of complaints to the mayor have been unearthed in New York City going back to the 1700's. * Slide Show: Letters from New Yorkers Past A Drive to Root Out the Resurgent Taliban - American troops are engaged in their biggest operation against Taliban forces in Afghanistan since 2001. * Audio & Photos: Search for Taliban * Afghan Legislator Accuses U.S.-Led Forces of Firing on His Family Ukraine's Coalition Unravels in a New Setback - President Viktor A. Yushchenko's coalition collapsed in acrimony just two weeks after it was formed.

After scanning all of these articles and links, I finally found a reference to the PATH plot on the front page:

3 Held Overseas in Plan to Bomb New York Target - Law enforcement authorities said the plan presented a genuine threat even though it was in its earliest stages and no attack was imminent (Ed: emphasis mine ).

Consider, for a moment, the treatment of this story by the rest of the media establishment -- who must possess at least a scintilla of self-preservation:

#1 at CNN (US News): N.Y. tunnel plot uncovered
#1 at Fox News (Headlines): FBI Busts Terror Plot Aimed At NYC-N.J. Transit Network
#1 at MSNBC (In the News): U.S. says NYC bomb plot foiled

The story is of high interest around the country... and of alarm-claxons-going-off-level-interest for New Yorkers.

But here's the deal: the Times is... embarrassed. This story utterly humiliates the Times once again. The very sort of international tracking programs they decry and expose has likely been employed to save the lives of hundreds or thousands of New Yorkers.

And the New York Times. Couldn't. Care. Less.

They're happy to casually bury and downplay the story at the expense of their readership and subscription base. And even the story's lede ("Law enforcement authorities said the plan presented a genuine threat even though it was in its earliest stages and no attack was imminent  ") has all the bias and spin they can muster.

Here's a Times stock chart. Expect it to continue plummeting. After all the disclosures and leaks of classified US national security programs, it's the least they deserve.

And I'm still waiting patiently for the Times to leak or expose an enemy plot.

Related:
Captain's Quarters: More dishonesty at the Gray Lady
Expose the Left: FBI foils terror plot
Hugh Hewitt: Interview with Mark Steyn & James Lileks and The New York Times' Duties of Disclosure
Michelle Malkin: 7/7 Remembrance and Newspaper of Wreckage