The New York Times' once esteemed credibility now ranks on par with that tattletale rag the National Enquirer. The Times' pages have been stained with anonymous sourced articles, alleged leaked memos and scurrilous dossiers. Today the news that fits in the Times is unfit for belief.
The Times, once known as the Gray Lady for its conservative design and typography, is little more than a Lady of the Evening, hawking her faded charms to a dwindling, aging group of readers. Ever since the paper embarked on its Russian Collusion Crusade, journalism has been exiled.
In case you don't read the Times, you are not alone The newspaper's average paid daily circulation has nosedived from its zenith of 1.92 million in 2013 to 590,000 at the end of last year. It's decline allowed a Mexican billionaire to swoop in and claim one of America's oldest newspapers.
Carlos Slim, one of the world's richest men with a fortune estimated at $62 billion, exercised warrants he acquired in 2009 to become a 16.8 percent majority share owner in 2015. Despite denials by The Times' publisher, Slim's well-known disdain for President Trump now steers the editorial direction.
Over the years, Slim has funneled multi-million dollar donations to the Clinton Foundation both as an individual and through charitable entities he controls. His Telmex Foundation has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hillary Clinton for speeches to the organization.
Like Ms. Clinton, Slim favors an open border with Mexico, abhors the idea of a wall between his country and the United States, and loathes deportation of illegal immigrants. His opinions are not altruistic, but are tied to his business interests in Mexico.
The billionaire, once referred to as a 'robber baron' on the pages of The New York Times, owns some 200 companies, including banks, telecommunications firms, retail establishments, airlines, railways, hotels, printing and tobacco companies. Most interests are under the holding company Grupo Carso.
Illegal and legal Mexican immigrants in the U.S. wire billions home through banks with ties to Slim. Phone calls from this same group generate a steady stream of income for Slim's land line and mobile telecommunications businesses. More Mexicans in the U.S. equals more profit for Slim.
Even before Mr. Trump was elected president, Slim's newspaper assigned a team of investigative reporters to plumb for muck on the candidate. After the inauguration, the Times launched a witch hunt for rumors of collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign.
A glut of articles with spurious sources began dotting the paper. Several, including one that featured sordid details of a fake dossier on Mr. Trump, have proven false. But that hasn't stopped the paper from using undisclosed sources to daily smear the Trump Administration.
In February, the Times breathlessly reported that the Russian intelligence apparatus had contacts with the Trump campaign and associates. The article became the launchpad for a series of wordy tomes on how team Trump conspired to steal the election from Hillary Clinton.
However, in June former FBI director James Comey in an appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee debunked the story under oath. Comey called The New York Times reporting on the Trump conspiracy "not true." He should have called it a damnable lie.
The latest Times hit-piece about Donald Trump Jr. is long on innuendo and short on evidence of wrongdoing. Unsubstantiated fabrications have replaced unbiased reporting. Apparently, the Times sold its journalistic principles along with the 166-year-old newspaper's assets to Slim.
Slim knows the Times' anti-Trump campaign plays well politically in his home country of Mexico. A sealed border is anathema to the country's political establishment. By leading the effort to sabotage the Trump Administration, Slim wants to enhance his political influence in Mexico.
His image could use some burnishing. Leaders from Mexico's three political parties have all agreed to confront Slim over his dominance in telecommunications and other industries. Don't take our word. It was reported in the Times in 2016. But then the newsroom got new marching orders.
Now The New York Times has only praise for Carlos Slim. Money talks even as the Times remains silent about the majority owner's political vendetta.
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