MSM paper spins on spy story

(The N&O news story referenced here can't be accessed using The N&O's archive. The paper is available at most public libraries in Eastern and Central North Carolina. You can also find the story using Lexus/Nexus.)

On Thursday, Oct. 6, Raleigh's News & Observer ran a front page story under New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau's byline. It begins:

An FBI intelligence analyst who once worked as a military aide in the White House is accused of passing secret government documents to current and former officials in the Philippines.

The FBI said Wednesday night that it has expanded a New Jersey espionage investigation to determine whether Leandro Aragoncillo, charged last month with spying for the Philippines, may also have had improper access to classified information while working in Vice President Dick Cheney's office several years ago.

So the FBI is saying "it has expanded (an) espionage investigation to determine whether Leandro Aragoncillo,...had improper access to classified information while working in Vice President Dick Cheney's office." Read on. You'll see why.

Aragoncillo, a U.S. citizen who was born in the Philippines, was charged Sept. 12 with passing classified information to government officials in Manila.

The charges filed against Aragoncillo, 46, of Woodbury, N.J., relate only to classified information that officials say he took from FBI computers after joining the agency in 2004.

But the investigation is widening, government officials said, because he had worked for several years before joining the agency as a Marine in the vice president's office under both Al Gore and Cheney. A former administration official said that Aragoncillo had briefly worked as an aide in Cheney's office, as a holdover from Gore's staff. Military aides frequently rotate through those offices and usually hold security clearances.

Let's stop right here. The N&O says in the middle of the fifth paragraph that he also worked for Vice President Gore. That's a surprise. No N&O mention of Gore before that. It was all Cheney.

Why? Aragoncillo worked in Gore's office before he worked in Cheney's office. That means he was first investigated and cleared to work at the White House during the Clinton administration. But The N&O doesn't mention that anywhere in its story.

And since Aragoncillo worked as a Gore aide for 19 months, something the FBI has known for years, why is The N&O reporting only that the FBI is investigating his "improper access to classified information while working in Vice President Dick Cheney's office?"

Surely the FBI is investigating his activities while he was a Gore aide. I'll say more about that part of The N&O's reporting in a post tomorrow.

For now, I'm more than a little skeptical of the way The N&O is reporting on an FBI statement.

There's more readers need to ask about the fairness and accuracy of The N&O's Oct.6 story.

Its headline, for instance. Would any of you be OK with a headline such as:

Ex-aide to Gore accused in spy case

No, it isn't fair, is it. It links Aragoncillo only to Gore, and makes no mention of his time with Cheney.

How about this headline:

White House spying began in Clinton years, FBI fears.

It's true the FBI fears Aragoncillo was spying in the White House by June, 2000. Readers would certainly want to know when spying began in the White House. But The N&O couldn't use this headline because it never mentions the FBI's fear.

What about this headline:

Ex-aide to Cheney accused in spy case

Are you thinking "Ex-aide to Cheney.." would be at least as unfair as "Ex-aide to Gore..." so let's scratch it?

Are you also thinking we should scratch the headline because it ignores Aragoncillo's coming on board at the White House during the Clinton administration; and gives no clue that he served there for 19 months, during which time the FBI fears he began his spying?

Are you asking why I even brought up the "Ex-aide to Cheney..." headline?

Good question. I brought it up because it's the one The N&O used:

Ex-aide to Cheney accused in spy case

See for yourself. The N&O's front page, Oct. 6.

Why did The N&O go with such a headline and run the story "framed" as it was?

If you're thinking liberal news bias, The N&O will tell you there's no bias in its news columns because it follows what it proudly calls its Fairness and Accuracy policy.

The policy is designed to prevent any of The N&O's liberal trending toward far-Left editorial partisanship from spilling over into its news columns.

I think the policy works about as well as the New Orleans levees did during Katrina.

But The N&O is very satisfied with its policy.

If you'd like to learn more about the policy, email The N&O's executive editor for news, Melanie Sill.

Her email: msill@newsobserver.com

Remember, I'm posting tomorrow by 5 PM Eastern on other aspects of The N&O reporting on the Aragoncillo spy case. Before then, I'll try to learn more about what the FBI has actually said.

You may want to do some Internet searching of your own.