"The Times's first article on the investigations finally
appeared last Friday [Aug. 12, 2005] after weeks of
articles by other newspapers in New York and elsewhere.
"The Times's recent slowness stands in contrast to its
flurry of articles about Air America in the spring of 2004, when
the network was launched ...
"Yet The Times was silent as other publications reported that
city and state investigators were looking into whether the
Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club in the Bronx had made improper
loans of as much as $875,000 to Air America ...
"'We were slow in the first place and need to do more,'
Rick Berke, an associate managing editor at The Times, told me
Monday ...
"There's another reason to get to the bottom of the
scandal. It's the perception problem — a perception of liberal
bias for which I haven't found any evidence after
checking with editors at the paper.
"Failing to cover the story until late last week has led
numerous readers, especially those who seemed inspired by
conservative bloggers, to write in saying that a liberal bias in
the newsroom caused the paper to downplay the budding scandal.
One reader put it this way: 'If a conservative radio
network had been started with money improperly 'borrowed' from a
charity like a boys and girls club, it would be front page news
for weeks in your paper. Once more, your left-wing bias is
showing'."