What Media Bias?

Update:Betsy Newmark comments on the same story:

It's awfully kind of David Shipley to decide that McCain's plan for Iraq has to include elements such as troop levels and timetables that McCain has specifically said should be determined by conditions on the ground and not by American political concerns. The translation of Shipley's demands are - believe what we and Obama believe or we will not publish you.

The New York Times has given up even trying to appear to be an impartial news organization. It is now simply a mouthpiece for the Obama campaign.

An editorial written by Republican presidential hopeful McCain has been rejected by the New York Times - less than a week after the paper published an essay written by Obama. […]

"The Obama piece worked for me because it offered new information (it appeared before his speech); while Senator Obama discussed Senator McCain, he also went into detail about his own plans."

Shipley continues: "It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece. To that end, the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq."

So, the Times has rejected an opinion piece by a candidate for President of the United States because it didn't "mirror" his opponents piece, which it did publish. Isn't it McCain's perogative to format his own opinion pieces, rather than to simply respond to what Obama has already written? And who is this Shipley character that declined to publish McCain's article?

Shipley served in the Clinton Administration from 1995 until 1997 as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Presidential Speechwriter.