Time magazine's online staff certainly undermined any notion of
impartiality in how they littered the posted version of this week's
cover story, "Inside Bush and Cheney's Final Days [1],"
with the links they chose to display between paragraphs and at page
breaks of the article. Some were innocuous, such as "See TIME's George
W. Bush covers," "See TIME's politics covers" and "See pictures of
presidential First Dogs."
Others, however, reflected hostility
and/or derision toward the two key players in the story, George W. Bush
and Dick Cheney, starting with "Visit RottenTomatoes.com for reviews of
W., Oliver Stone's 2008 portrait of George W. Bush" and "Read 'Leahy's Plan to Probe Bush-Era Wrongdoings.'"
Plus, "See the top 10 George W. Bush YouTube moments [2]." The #1 video on the linked page: "Shoes Thrown at George W. Bush in Iraq." Amongst the 15 highlighted in "See America's worst Vice Presidents [3]," no surprise: "Richard B. Cheney [4]." The "See the top 10 unfortunate political one-liners [5]" link goes to a collection which includes George H.W. Bush's pledge to not raise taxes: "Read my lips: no new taxes."
The link for "See pictures of polarizing politicians on LIFE.com [6]"
brings readers to a collection which has Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton
and Al Sharpton, but also George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, Rudy Giuiliani
and Ronald Reagan.
In addition, the online posting featured in the sidebar: "George W. Bush's Eight Biggest Economic Mistakes [7]." #3: "Tax Cuts for the Rich."
All the added links in the posted version of the article in the August 3 edition of the magazine:
See pictures of George W. Bush.
See TIME's George W. Bush covers.
Visit RottenTomatoes.com for reviews of W., Oliver Stone's 2008 portrait of George W. Bush.
See the top 10 George W. Bush YouTube moments.
Read "What's Behind Dick Cheney's New Attacks?"
See TIME's politics covers.
See America's worst Vice Presidents.
Read "Leahy's Plan to Probe Bush-Era Wrongdoings."
See pictures of polarizing politicians on LIFE.com.
See the top 10 unfortunate political one-liners.
Read "7 Clues to Understanding Dick Cheney."
See pictures of Republican memorabilia.
See TIME's Pictures of the Week.
See pictures of presidential First Dogs.
- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center