The New York Post's editorial about the Associated Press's Pulitzer prize for its coverage of the NYPD spying on Muslims is angry even for a paper that employs Andrea Peyser. It also sounds a lot like a reflexive defense of Ray Kelly's police department, which is kind of what the Post does, but the language here is really harsh: "The series was a naked bid to appeal to the judges’ PC sensibilities," the Post wrote. And then later: "Let the AP toast an ill-gotten prize that actually says more about mainstream journalism than about the NYPD."

Really? The New York City daily with a circulation of half a million that's owned by one of the world's second-largest media conglomerates is going to do the old MSM attack? But again, it's no surprise. We know the "mainstream media" is a frequent bugbear of News Corporation properties.

What's funny about this editorial is the survey it uses to refute the AP's series. The Post claims there's no debate among New Yorkers about the spying program, citing "a recent Quinnipiac poll [that] shows 58 percent of New Yorkers reject the AP’s smear that the NYPD “has unfairly targeted Muslims,” and where fully 82 percent — including majorities of every demographic group — say the department “has been effective in combating terrorism.” Yes, we remember that poll. It and a Baruch poll showed some -- not all but some -- New Yorkers approved of the spying, and the Baruch poll had that population in the minority. Also, based on those polls' reporting of their survey participants, neither actually asked the Muslim community what it thought. If that's the best the Post can do to prove people think police spying is ok, then we're better off viewing them as a scurrilous gossip sheet and not part of the mainstream media.

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Adam Martin