Archive - Jun 22, 2007
Edwards, Poverty and the New York Times
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 06/22/2007 - 19:40Well, it has been an interesting day. My diary over at DailyKos which I cross posted here got picked up by Huffington Post. Others have been writing great stuff about this as well, in particular, Greg Sargent has this great post about the Times article.
Some folks have suggested to me that I write to the public editor of the New York Times about the article. I have sent my letter to him, which I am including below the fold.
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Who can fight poverty?
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 06/22/2007 - 10:27It is good to see a major media outlet talk about the issue of poverty in America, even if the article is based on a false premise. The article “In Aiding Poor, Edwards Built Bridge to 2008”, June 22, suggests, “the main beneficiary of the center’s fund-raising was Mr. Edwards himself”.
No, the main beneficiaries were the thousands of students who went to hear Sen. Edwards as he visited college campuses around the country and found the hope and the inspiration to address problems of poverty in our country. The main beneficiaries were residents of New Orleans who saw students Sen. Edwards led to help with the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. The main beneficiaries are all of us that have stopped and thought a little bit more about the issue of poverty in America, thanks to Sen. Edwards.
The problem with the New York Times article is manifold. It suggests that the rich cannot care about poverty, that throwing money at a problem is the only solution and that candidates cannot care about issues.
