Oh, the irony.
I got my emailed LAT contents as usual
about an hour ago (email is time-stamped 3:20 AM Saturday and I began writing this post about 4:20 AM) and was pleased and somewhat surprised, given how rarely this topic sees the light in the corporate press, to read this article description:
"When writing truth is a crime"
By Tim Rutten
Seven journalists have been killed in Iraq since Jan. 1, but where is the outrage in Western media?
Here is a screen shot of this portion of the emailed LAT contents - the article is second in the A & E section list:
Sounds like an important, courageous article, even though it is listed in the Arts & Entertainment section. But it's such a widely suppressed topic, and I was so suprised to actually see it listed, I checked the online LA Times immediately.
...and got the following error message:
"Sorry, the page you requested is not available."
I went through the online issue thoroughly and also searched for articles by Tim Rutten (and found some in earlier issues), but the article on the deaths of SEVEN journalists in Iraq since January 1
is not there.Do I suspect that it was pulled due to pressure to suppress it? I hope it was merely delayed and will show up, say, tomorrow - but yes, I do suspect it was pulled due to political pressure.
Let's write the LA Times and ask them to print this (so far) missing article. Here is contact information:If you would like to make a comment about a specific news article, editorial or commentary and have it considered for publication in the newspaper as a Letter to the Editor, please send it to letters@latimes.com -- send well-written individual letters only; no group e-mails. Do not send attachments. (Letters regarding Orange County issues specifically should be sent to ocletters@latimes.com.)
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http://www.latimes.com/services/site/la-contactus,0,1439615.htmlstory?coll=la-mininav-opinion So, LA Times, if this article fails to appear in the days to come, that would answer the question in its title: YES, looks like writing truth IS a crime, at least in the minds of some with other priorities. Especially given the volatile situation in Iraq and the fact that the Pentagon is STILL saying that the situation is improving there, eyewitness reporting is not welcome.