New York Times on Bolivia; journalism or malicious gossip?

For years we have passed information to the New York Times and other papers. They have ignored it, even when a Bolivian consul offered his house to a NYT journalist and offered to set up an interview with Evo Morales. A press reception in the Bolivian consulate in New York, on 30 June, 2010, was ignored by the NYT, the NY Post and the NY Daily News. A short cab or subway ride away from their offices, or a ten minute walk for any able bodied journalists, was too much to undertake.

Even when Bolivian officials visited this city and spoke at major institutions, such as Colombia University, the journalists here took no note. Morales too spoke, at a convenient midtown location, and they were nowhere to be seen.

Bolivia, twice the size of France, or Texas, with its great diversity ethnically and geographically, has great opportunity for any real journalist. Recently, much of this has been positive, with the great increases in minimum wage, education and living conditions, the creation of more infrastructure and tourism, etc.

But none of this reaches the pages of the New York Times. I seldom get a google alert on my email; but recently it has been a constant stream of alerts about NYT pieces on Bolivia; all hit pieces.

Here is a sampling:
17 Feb  (AP)  "6 Dead of Asphyxiation in Bolivian Protest"
19 Feb  (Editorial Board)  "Three Terms is Enough for Morales"
21 Feb  (AP)  "Ballot Question on Morales Re-election in Trouble"
22 Feb  (Nicholas Casey)  "Polls Show Bolivian Leader Losing Vote"
25 Feb  (Nicholas Casey)  "Morales Concedes Defeat"
27 Feb  (Nicholas Casey)  "Former Lover in Jail"

There is a great irony of all this coming from a town where the former mayor had three terms, and wanted more; Michael Bloomberg. He is a pressman, but there was no such hit campaign against his seeking re-election in the NYT. The public voted for term limits for him and for Morales, as they did with Roosevelt. But somehow the NYT makes this
seem like something terrible is happening in Bolivia, and specifically with Morales' administration, and probes into his personal  life, what with claims of a son who passed away but now there is someone claiming the son is alive and a former girlfriend whom he broke up with. No one is sure what is happening, but busybodies are spending their time consumed with it.

I thought such kind of reporting was in the National Enquirer, along with Elvis sightings and UFOs.