My Firsthand Experience Learning About New York Times' Dishonesty; Dogfighting, Israel, Hot Peppers

Here is why, based on my experience, I would give articles critical of Israel by the New York Times the skepticism it deserves, and why I believe the New York Times is not an honest, reliable news source.

In a New York Times article about dogfighting, September 29, 2002, I was quoted as saying the following about dogfighting, "This is now the preferred entertainment for the American underclass."

I never said that. I said, "Dogfighting is a preferred form of entertainment for American gangs." This was not the first time I made this statement, and it was not the last. 

Before the article about dogfighting went to print by the New York Times, a woman called me on the phone and identified herself as a New York Times fact checker. I believe that she also said she was an editor.

I told her that I never said that dogfighting is the preferred form of entertainment for the American underclass. I said that dogfighting is a preferred form of entertainment for American gangs. 

I continued that I never would say dogfighting is the preferred form of entertainment for American gangs because there are other many other activities that many gang members participate in far more than dogfighting, including such things as basketball and other sports. I emphasized that dogfighting is a preferred form of entertainment for gangs, not the preferred form of entertainment. Also, not everyone in a gang fights dogs or attends dog fights.

There were other things in the article that were attributed to me that I never said. I told the fact checker that I never said jalapeño peppers are inserted into the anuses of dogs. It is a ridiculous assertion. Dogfighters may try to harden their dogs and make them more mean and vicious, but shoving hot peppers up their anuses was not anything I ever heard of. Furthermore, I asserted, if someone tried doing that to a dog, most likely the outcome is the dog will bite the person in its effort to protect itself. 

My words fell on empty ears. When the article went to print, I was quoted as saying that dogfighting is the preferred form of entertainment for the American underclass. Jalapeño peppers up the anus was included in the article, attributed to me. This was not the only thing in the article attributed to me that I never said and that I had told the fact checker I never said.

I called the fact checker/editor after the article was already published and asked why I was quoted as saying dogfighting is the preferred form of entertainment for the American underclass when I already told her that I never made such an absurd statement. She said that the writer of the article insisted it was in his notes that I did say it, including the nonsense about the jalapeño peppers and the other things attributed to me that I disputed. I told her that this was not a recorded conversation, and that I also kept notes. I said I was willing to take a lie detector test to prove I was the one telling the truth.

I demanded a retraction and correction. She said she would not do it because the writer said it was in his notes.

I said the writer could quote me as saying Chicago must go to war against New York City, another stupid and absurd statement, and that the writer could get away with it simply by saying it is in his notes. 

She had no response other than to say she would not do anything.

I said to her what does it even mean to say the American underclass? And that to me it means millions of Americans that fall into a lower income bracket. To say dogfighting is the preferred form of entertainment for these millions of Americans, simply by virtue of their being low income or by any other standard by which American underclass may be defined, and that they prefer a criminal, vicious and bloody activity such as dogfighting more than the many things that they do prefer, including going to church, sports, and a thousand other activities that are not cruel, criminal and bloody, is not only untrue but also incredibly degrading.

Nothing I said would budge this in my opinion cruel fact checker that I believe couldn't care less about the truth. No retraction or correction was ever printed.

And so I learned, first hand, that the New York Times, are dishonest, unethical, distorters of the truth, seek narratives that fulfill their objectives, not objective reality, and that it is far from a trustworthy, honest news source.

How my employer responded is the stuff for another story because of the quote that I never made about the American underclass.