For the New York Times, Obituaries Are Perfect Places for Propaganda

I know that sounds far-fetched, but it’s true. This organ has a consistent habit of blatantly distorting reality in its obits to conform to its ideological predilections and political goals.

There are examples of this every week. Here’s one from the Sunday paper of February 1st.

The obituary is for Reies Tijerina, whom the Times describes as a figure in “a radical Chicano property rights movement.” [1] 

The second paragraph says “He never achieved his goal of reclaiming – for Mexicans, Indians and descendants of the original Spanish settlers -  the millions of acres that changed hands when northern Mexico became the American Southwest in the mid-19^th century.”

That opaque description of the actual history is all you get. What exactly occurred “in the mid-19^th century” that caused “northern Mexico” to magically “become” “the American Southwest” and making “millions of acres” “change hands?” 

A little thing called the Mexican-American War of 1848, when the U.S. invaded Mexico, conquered it, and ripped off half of Mexico as the spoils of war. Not exactly a normal real estate transaction, as NYT propagandist Sam Roberts, or one of his invisible power-munchkin editors, has it.

How dishonest can people who call themselves “journalists” be? Is this really a “news” paper, or a propaganda platform?

It would be sort of like reading an obituary in a German publication and coming across a sentence saying “the Jewish population of Europe underwent a sharp decline in the mid-20^th century.”  True, sure, but SO misleading, evasive, and dishonest as to qualify for the word, “lie.”

I have come across numerous similar examples of blatant, mendacious political propaganda stuffed into NYT obits over the years. As I say, you can find examples during any week. And it’s not just in obits about political figures, although they’re the worst, as one would expect. I will present more as I have the time to do so.

For more acidic analyses of propaganda that burns away the deceptions, go to propagandaanalysis.blogspot.com.

1] “Reies Tijerina, 88: Led Fight for ChicanoLand Rights,” Feb. 1, 2015, page 16, by career NYT hack Sam Roberts. [Posted on nyt.com Jan. 27th.]