New York Times Swaps, (Creates Own Biased) Headline

The New York Times (Online) yesterday took an AP story that told an incredible tale of Iraqis asking the U.S. military to stay out of a fight where they killed 18 bad guys, AND inserted their own biased headline. Here's the original story released by Associated Press:


Nov 10, 9:14 AM EST

Clash in Iraq Kills 18 al-Qaida Members

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Former insurgents who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq launched an attack against the terror group and killed 18 of its members, asking the U.S. military to stay away while the battle raged, an ex-insurgent leader and Iraqi police said Saturday.

Most members of the Islamic Army, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group that includes former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, joined U.S. forces battling al-Qaida in Iraq earlier this year, though some of the group's leaders deny any contact with American troops.

A top Islamic Army leader, known as Abu Ibrahim, told The Associated Press that his fighters ambushed al-Qaida members near Samarra on Friday, killing 18 people and seizing 16 prisoners..............

"We found out that al-Qaida intended to attack us, so we ambushed them at 3 p.m. on Friday," Abu Ibrahim said.

He asked that Iraqi authorities inform the American military about his plans, and requested that no U.S. troops interfere, they said. He worried that U.S. helicopters might mistakenly fire on his fighters, since they had no uniforms and were indistinguishable from the al-Qaida militants, they said............(full AP story)

Was this headline by AP good enough for the New York Times?
The answer is NO!

Here's the same story, but with a different headline:

Roadside Bombs Across Iraq Kill Seven

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 10, 2007
Filed at 9:13 a.m. ET

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Former insurgents who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq launched an attack against the terror group and killed 18 of its members, asking the U.S. military to stay away while the battle raged, an ex-insurgent leader and Iraqi police said Saturday.

Most members of the Islamic Army, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group that includes former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, joined U.S. forces battling al-Qaida in Iraq earlier this year, though some of the group's leaders deny any contact with American troops.
A top Islamic Army leader, known as Abu Ibrahim, told The Associated Press that his fighters ambushed al-Qaida members near Samarra on Friday, killing 18 people and seizing 16 prisoners................ (New York Times Link Here)

14 paragraphs down (in both story's) this was written:

"Meanwhile, roadside bombs and shootings killed at least 12 Iraqis early Saturday, police said, and the American military issued a statement saying a U.S. soldier was killed in Diyala province."

While I'm still trying to decipher where the "seven" comes from in the NYT's headline, I wrote an email to the public editor and asked "if this is common practice to change headlines submitted by AP to suit a particular bias"? A automated reponse was returned that said they will look into this matter and get back to me (if necessary). My response to the New York Times------ IT'S NECESSARY!

EDITORS NOTE: ( I plan on doing a little follow up on this in the next few days to give the Times a chance to respond. Please check back.)

UPDATE: NOW IT APPEARS THE LINKS TO BOTH STORIES HAVE BEEN CHANGED. NOW THE LINKS TAKE YOU TO THIS:

Nov 11, 10:12 AM EST
Iraqi Leader Says Baghdad Violence Down

Did the AP change this link? Where's the Saturday story to this link?

TWO WORDS FOR AP AND THE NEW YORK TIMES-----SCREEN CAPTURE!