Media Watch: Roanoke Times Finally Coughs Up Tardy Reporting

The Roanoke Times news division is a day late and a dollar short again. It's news reporting on real news, rather than puff pieces, is already in a downslide. The opinion page has sold out to right-wing forces. Dan Rsdmacher no longer has a regular column. (Tommy Denton took a buyout.) The local wrong-wing stiflers have trouble accepting any dissenting views in print. It's not enough that nationally, conservative columnists dominate op-ed pages. Many days one has to debate whether it's worth trees to consume this now-nearly useless product. Case in point:

Today, the RT fails us again. As today's "news" section ran with pictures all over page 1, and scant "news" elsewhere," it trots out as "news" what was known elsewhere for a week.

Those of us not depending entirely upon the so-called MSM for news already knew that Sept 11th Commission Executive Director Philip Zelikow's appointment had rendered the Commission's finding suspect. But it gets worse. Last week we learned that Zelikow, a friend of Condi Rice, who's conflict-of-interests including conversing with Condi and frequent calls to the White House and Karl Rove, in particular. So, while the commission investigated administration claims, he confabbed with the White House, Rove, and Rice off the record, but wihtout disclosere. in 2004 Zelikow intimidated staff against writing anything damaging to Bush, or other administration members, when Bush was running for reelection.

It was not until this news was just about everywhere else, that the RT picks it up. Wouldn't want to have to say they never covered it. But sometimes, covering it this late, or burying it, as the RT did, in a small wire report story, it's just as bad. Here's the story:

In a new book, The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Commission, Philip Shennon, a New York Times reporter says the White House tried to influence the final report and that Zelikow himself tried to prevent damaging (to the White House or Bush administration) material from getting into the Commission report. Indeed, it was not disclaimed that Zelikow had previously coauthored a book with Rice and that he went to work for her after the Commission disbanded and Rice became SOS.

And that makes the entire 9-11 Commission report suspect. But we already knew that.