John McCain and Sarah Palin, the Republican nominees for president and vice president, sharply criticized the Los Angeles Times today for withholding a video of a 2003 event in which Barack Obama, their Democratic rival, praised a Palestinian scholar.
"It must be nice for a candidate to have major news organizations looking after his best interests like that," Palin said in Bowling Green, Ohio. "Maybe some politicians would love to have a pet newspaper of their very own. In this case, we have a newspaper willing to throw aside even the public's right to know in order to protect a candidate that its own editorial board has endorsed."
"It must be nice for a candidate to have major news organizations looking after his best interests like that," Palin said in Bowling Green, Ohio. "Maybe some politicians would love to have a pet newspaper of their very own. In this case, we have a newspaper willing to throw aside even the public's right to know in order to protect a candidate that its own editorial board has endorsed."
The Times has said that making the recording public would violate a promise to a confidential source.
The video was mentioned in a Times story in April 2008 on Obama's friendships with Palestinian Americans in Chicago. The story said that Obama attended a farewell dinner for the Palestinian scholar, at which some speakers spoke angrily of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and of U.S. policy toward Israel. It said that Obama spoke warmly at the dinner of the scholar, Rashid Khalidi, but that his comments focused on finding common ground.
McCain, in an interview today with radio station WAQI in Miami, which serves the Latino community, asserted that the tape could shed light on Obama's relationship with William Ayers, the onetime Weather Underground radical who later came to know Obama.
The video was mentioned in a Times story in April 2008 on Obama's friendships with Palestinian Americans in Chicago. The story said that Obama attended a farewell dinner for the Palestinian scholar, at which some speakers spoke angrily of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and of U.S. policy toward Israel. It said that Obama spoke warmly at the dinner of the scholar, Rashid Khalidi, but that his comments focused on finding common ground.
McCain, in an interview today with radio station WAQI in Miami, which serves the Latino community, asserted that the tape could shed light on Obama's relationship with William Ayers, the onetime Weather Underground radical who later came to know Obama.
"We should know about their relationship including, apparently, information that is held by the Los Angeles Times concerning an event that Mr. Ayers attended with a PLO spokesman," McCain said. "The Los Angeles Times refuses to make that videotape public. I'm not in the business about talking about media bias, but what if there was a tape with John McCain with a neo-Nazi outfit being held by some media outlet? I think the treatment of the issue would be slightly different."
The Times' April story said that the 2003 dinner was videotaped and that it had obtained a copy. But the story did not say that Ayers attended the event. The story described Khalidi as someone who had spoken to reporters on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1970s, rather than as a PLO spokesman.
To support McCain's statement that Ayers had attended the Khalidi dinner, the McCain campaign cited an account in the New York Sun newspaper. That story did not say that Ayers attended the event, but that a commemorative book associated with the dinner included testimonials from friends and political associates, including Ayers.
The McCain campaign has highlighted Obama's relationship with Ayers over the course of several months, saying that it casts doubt on Obama's judgment.
In a statement Tuesday, The Times explained its decision not to make the video public.
"The Los Angeles Times did not publish the videotape, because it was provided to us by a confidential source who did so on the condition that we not release it," said the newspaper's editor, Russ Stanton. "The Times keeps it promises to sources."
Jamie Gold, the newspaper's readers' representative, said in a statement Tuesday: "The Times is not suppressing anything. Just the opposite -- the L.A. Times brought the matter to light."
Palin, in her morning comments on the subject, said that "if there's a Pulitzer Prize category for excelling in kowtowing, then the L.A. Times, you're winning. But it's not too late, and if there is an ounce of credibility there, if the newspaper wants to keep that shred of credibility, let alone its dignity, then I say the public has a right to know. Let's go to the videotape, L.A. Times."
McCain told a radio interviewer: "Now why that should not be made public is beyond me. ... Of course, Americans need to know, particularly about Ayers, also about the PLO. Hopefully, there will be enough pressure on the L.A. Times that it'll come up, but it's really unfortunate that we have to go through this."
The Times' April story said that the 2003 dinner was videotaped and that it had obtained a copy. But the story did not say that Ayers attended the event. The story described Khalidi as someone who had spoken to reporters on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1970s, rather than as a PLO spokesman.
To support McCain's statement that Ayers had attended the Khalidi dinner, the McCain campaign cited an account in the New York Sun newspaper. That story did not say that Ayers attended the event, but that a commemorative book associated with the dinner included testimonials from friends and political associates, including Ayers.
The McCain campaign has highlighted Obama's relationship with Ayers over the course of several months, saying that it casts doubt on Obama's judgment.
In a statement Tuesday, The Times explained its decision not to make the video public.
"The Los Angeles Times did not publish the videotape, because it was provided to us by a confidential source who did so on the condition that we not release it," said the newspaper's editor, Russ Stanton. "The Times keeps it promises to sources."
Jamie Gold, the newspaper's readers' representative, said in a statement Tuesday: "The Times is not suppressing anything. Just the opposite -- the L.A. Times brought the matter to light."
Palin, in her morning comments on the subject, said that "if there's a Pulitzer Prize category for excelling in kowtowing, then the L.A. Times, you're winning. But it's not too late, and if there is an ounce of credibility there, if the newspaper wants to keep that shred of credibility, let alone its dignity, then I say the public has a right to know. Let's go to the videotape, L.A. Times."
McCain told a radio interviewer: "Now why that should not be made public is beyond me. ... Of course, Americans need to know, particularly about Ayers, also about the PLO. Hopefully, there will be enough pressure on the L.A. Times that it'll come up, but it's really unfortunate that we have to go through this."
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