Ever think that certain reporters at the so-called “mainstream” media have already determined their story before they have even interviewed anyone? In my many conversations with reporters, I sometimes get the feeling that no matter what I say, the reporter at hand will only hear what he or she wants to hear, even if it’s the exact opposite of what I’m actually saying. Some amusing evidence of this sort of bias in action is apparently on display in today’s print edition of The New York Times. In an article about President Bush’s endorsement on Monday of students learning about different views on evolution, reporter Elisabeth Bumiller completely mangles a quote by Discovery Institute’s Stephen Meyer.
Here is what Steve Meyer actually said to Bumiller in praising President Bush’s comments:
“We interpret this as the president using his bully pulpit to support freedom of inquiry and free speech about the issue of biological origins.”
But here’s how the The Times reported Meyer’s comment:
“We interpret this as the president using his bully pulpit to support freedom of inquiry and free speech about the issue of biblical origins.”
It seems as if the reporter (or her editor) already knew beforehand what they thought Steve Meyer ought to have said in order to confirm their own stereotype that intelligent design is about religion, rather than science.
As Rob Crowther has pointed out already, the Times assured us a couple of hours ago that they would correct this egregious error, but as of this post, the correction has yet to be made. So the bogus quote will no doubt still be circulating on the internet by the time you read this, although I hope the correction will have been made by then. Here’s yet another cautionary tale about why you shouldn’t always believe what you see in the “mainstream” media.