No Surprise (Finally)

A couple of weeks back, I pointed out how the New York Times has continually referred to trips by administration officials to Mideast hotspots as "surprise visits", a description that I said has the "whiff of spin or p.r. to it" because it seems to give these trips the air of unexpected but much-appreciated "gifts" being bestowed on those visited. I suggested the paper's editors might want to refer to the trips instead as "unplanned" or "unscheduled" visits, which hits me as much more even-handed approach. So I think it only fair to point out that in a front page story this morning, the Times described Secy. of State Rice's meeting with Lebanon's prime minister Fouad Siniora yesterday as an "unannounced stop in Beirut." Not sure if this is a permanent editorial decision and I'm certainly not pretending my post was the cause for it -- just saying I appreciate the injection of some impartiality to the story on the part of the Times.

Now if someone could just have a chat with the AP...