Moborate

In this lead story from the online edition of the New York Time s on the 26th of September, reporter Carlotta Gall humanizes one of the 16 American and Afghani officials allegedly ambushed and killed in cold blood at the Pakistani outpost of Teri Mangal in 2007, at the end of what they had thought would be a peaceful meeting to resolve a border dispute: "…a Pakistani soldier opened fire with an automatic rifle, pumping multiple rounds from just 5 or 10 yards away into an American officer, Maj. Larry J. Bauguess Jr., killing him almost instantly. An operations officer with the 82nd Airborne Division from North Carolina, Major Bauguess, 36, was married and the father of two girls, ages 4 and 6." US Major Larry J. Baugess (source: NYT) Ms Gall’s story, the publication of which coincided with an increase in the verbal volleys being fired in Pakistan’s direction, blended seamlessly into the narrative currently being fed to the American public by its mainstream media. The narrati...

So, most of our readers have probably already heard about the advertisement that the Government of Pakistan took out in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 . According to Dawn , the ad was first offered to the New York Times , which "refused to publish it, forcing Pakistani officials to go to a business newspaper with a specialised but influential readership." Here is the ad (via the LongWarJournal): Pakistan's 9/11 ad in the WSJ Irrespective of the merits of the advertisement - and there are many who have questioned its design and message - one of the intriguing questions that arise is why the New York Times refused to publish it. A half-page ad is, after all, darn good revenue especially in these recessionary times. According to the WSJ's own blog , which shrugged off the ad's chances of changing the anti-Pakistan narrative in the American media: "The [New York] Times asked for “more clarity in the ad about who was placing it,” ...