media power

Some feel the media isn't all that powerful but a close examination of their choice of words and how they use them can be quite telling.

Reuters edited two paragraphs (after on-line publication) in a recent article that ran in the NYTimes: Bush Signs Tax Cut Bill; Republicans Promise More While the changes in words are minor, the difference in meaning is immense.

original 12:27 pm:

Eventually, Bush could create a flat-tax system, under which savings and investment would be tax-free, said Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth, a political action committee.

"Everything that Bush has done on tax policy since 2001 (has had) one common theme -- that is, to lead us to the promised land of a flat tax," Moore said. "We're crossing this river in five or six jumps rather than one huge leap."

revised 8:16 pm:

Conservatives said many of the tax law changes have brought them closer to their goal of transforming the existing income-tax code into a flat tax or consumption-based system, under which savings and investment would be tax-free.

``We're crossing this river in five or six jumps rather than one huge leap,'' said Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth, which backed the tax cuts.

Is Reuters now under the Rove thumb?