Obscuring Important Truths

The role of the press in a free society is to inform. Generally, the press does a good job of printing truthful information, but when it publishes thousands of truthful facts while omitting other important truths, it obscures what is important. In doing so, it misinforms the public.

One important truth that has been covered insufficiently is the news that 40,000 dead bodies or remains in the U.S. have yet to be identified. Further, Congress is considering a bill entitled, “Help Find the Missing” (H.R. 3695). It seeks to address the problem.

A recent survey of three leading newspapers – the New York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today – showed that the latter two newspapers had at least one story on the subject since January 1, 2006. The research did not reveal any stories on the subject from the Times.

The news editors at the Times apparently think such information to be of little news value. It should be compared to what they find to be newsworthy. Here are the headlines for October 31, 2009, from the Times:

• Abdullah Will Quit Afghan Election, Sources Say
• Upstate Republican Abruptly Suspends Race for Congress
• After Combat, Anguish
• Top Democrats Push for Plans to Trim Deficit
• Prayers and Criticism After F.B.I. Kills Imam
• Appreciation: Trick-or-Treat for Unicef
• In Philadelphia, Heroes Last a Lunchtime
• Phillies Put Faith in an Unsteady Hamels
• Corzine Courts Obama Backers in All-Out Push
• Rebels Widen Deadly Reach Across India
• Ford’s Plan to Cut Costs Falls Short in Union Vote
• The Choice: Answers From Penn Admissions Dean
• ArtsBeat: More Rock and Roll Combinations
• The R.O.T.C. Dilemma
• Arizona, Carolina Rematch of Pivotal Playoff Game
• Philly Transit Talks Continue Saturday
• Dick Cavett: Richard Burton — An Afterword
• NY Marathon: Interactive Map: The Course
• For Some, a Shortcut Can Be Tempting
• Herbert: Constraining the Brightest
• Editorial: Reform Misstep
• Glanville: Jimmy Rollins
• Opinionator: Clunker Fight
• Burden of New Safety Law Imperils Small Toymakers
• How New Buicks Took Shape in China
• Singapore’s New Breed of Bar
• Nods to Ravel and Yogurt With Blueberries
• Niman: The Carnivore’s Dilemma
• A Desolate Princess of the Bronx She Was Not
• You’re the Boss: One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1)
• Lapses Helped Scheme, Madoff Told Investigators
• Paul Krugman: The Defining Moment
• Well: The Human Body Is Built for Distance
• Thirsty Plant Dries Out Yemen
• Philippines Hit by Typhoon, the 4th Storm in a Month
• French Ideal of Bicycle-Sharing Meets Reality
• Schools Are Where Stimulus Saved Jobs, New Data Show
• Deal in Senate on Protecting News Sources
• Prayers and Criticism in Wake of Detroit Imam’s Killing by F.B.I.
• Schools Are Where Stimulus Saved Jobs, New Data Show
• Deal in Senate on Protecting News Sources
• Disclosure of List Threatens House Inquiries
• Bloomberg and Corzine: 2 Leaders, Few Parallels
• In Final Days of Race, Challenger Lays Out Agenda
• When Thompson Started Out, the Brooklyn Machine Offered a Way Up
• Findings on Mysterious Haze at Galaxy’s Center
• Bridging the Generation Gap on Climate
• E.U. Reaches Funding Deal on Climate Change
• Patient Money: Now Is the Time to Weigh Medicare Options
• Hospitalized Children Without Insurance Are More Likely to Die, a Study Finds
• Report Criticizes Medicare Role in Fraud Investigations
• The R.O.T.C. Dilemma
• The New Public Domain: At Public Universities: Less for More
• The Whole Applicant
• For the Right Price, the Right Fixer-Upper
• Habitats: A Makeover as Homage to the Past
• Living In | Oxford, Conn.: How Green Is Their Valley
• Burden of Safety Law Imperils Small Toymakers
• Pushing Fresh Produce Instead of Cookies at the Corner Market
• Injunction Sought to Keep A.I.G. Assets in State
• In China, Objections to Google’s Book Scans
• Net Addresses to Make Use of Non-Latin Scripts
• Consumer Electronics Makers Show Strength
• A Steady Presence, Matsui May Soon Be Gone
• N.F.L. Players and Union Say They Share Blame on Head Injuries
• Some Packers Fans Come to Bury Favre
• John O’Quinn, 68, Star Personal-Injury Lawyer in Texas, Dies
• John Kenley, Who Took Big Stars to Small-Town Stages, Dies at 103
• Michelle Triola Marvin, of Landmark Palimony Suit, Dies at 76
• Hiking Into History: England’s Ancient Ridgeway Trail
• Explorer: Barcelona’s Hidden Courtyards
• A Good Appetite: Having My Cake and Eating It Too
• The Minimalist: To the Middle East, With Collard Greens
• Habitats: A Makeover as Homage to the Past
• Fanciful Gardens Emerge in a City of Tan and Gray
• The Renovation Trifecta: 1 Building, 3 Floors
• Say ‘I Do’ to Rock
• Why Would He Run for Parliament?
• A Night Out With | Andy Bichlbaum: Prankster With a Purpose
• Behind the Wheel | 2010 Buick LaCrosse: A Buick With Higher Aspirations
• Design | Buick LaCrosse: How New Buicks Took Shape in China
• Auto Ego | 1956 Bentley S1 Continental Coupe: Split From a Jaguar and Wed to a Bentley
• Op-Ed Columnist: Constraining America’s Brightest
• Editorial: Another Misstep on the Road to Reform
• Letters: Obama’s Choices in the Afghan War
• Music Review: Rock’s Royal Genes, in Endless Recombinations
• Dance Review
• Video Game Review | DJ Hero: Club Mixes Are the New Guitar Jam
• ‘Julie & Julia’ for the Rugged: Tracing a Fatal Everest Trek
• The Web: Bite-Sized Bits of Horror, Served Up on the Web
• Movie Review | ‘This Is It’: The Pop Spectacular That Almost Was
• Theater Review: A Pot of Sunny Gold in Those Green Hills
• ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ to Close
• Arts, Briefly: Aligning the Stars for Opening Night
• Ayn Rand’s Revenge
• Lolita on the Bosporus
• One for the Good Guys
• Critic’s Notebook: An American Architectural Epoch Locks Its Doors
• Fair Game: Wall Street Follies: The Next Act
• The Great American Arm-Twist in Afghanistan
• The Obamas’ Marriage
• Comedy for Dummies
• The Objects of the Exercise
• Creepy Crawlers: A Halloween Jewelry Guide
• Design: Inside the Bureau of Friends
• Chic in Review: Tyra Banks’s Blackface Shoot 

The Times obscures the truth when it prints such a bewildering list of facts but fails to print the more important truth. There are 40,000 dead bodies or remains in the morgues, and many of them have been murdered. A news professional might ask, “Who were these 40,000 people, and who killed those who were murdered?” Instead, the Times prints news they believe to be more newsworthy: “Pushing Fresh Produce Instead of Cookies at the Corner Market”. On the issues of 40,000 dead and Congress’ attempts to address the situation, the Times is in last place in its attempts to cover the news. This is a critical democratic debate and the voice of the Times is missed.

The Times understands good journalism. It’s the newspaper that broke the Pentagon Papers story. It reported on Kurt Waldheim. It reported that Schwarzenegger said that he was “an admirer” of Hitler. Does the Times expect the news to go away?