Fernanda Santos

New York Times Slams AZ GOP's 'Hard-Line' on Immigration, Attempts Unrelated Scandal Smears
By Clay Waters | August 24, 2014 | 7:36 PM EDT

In two weekend stories, the New York Times did its best to discredit Arizona Republicans fighting illegal immigration both on the border and the ballot box. First up, Fernanda Santos's Saturday report, "As Primary Nears, Governor Candidates Turn Eyes to Border."

Right off Santos suggested Arizona citizens who showed up to a forum to express concerns about border security were misguided because, after all, Mexico was "at least 200 miles away," thus illegal immigration wouldn't affect them (never mind that Massachusetts, 2,000 miles away from Mexico, hosted planeloads of illegals caught at the border, proving the border issue is a national concern).

NY Times' Santos Alarmed Arizona GOP Pushing Bill to Inspect Abortion Clinics
By Ken Shepherd | February 28, 2014 | 6:01 PM EST

There those damn conservatives go again, trying to pass a bill to regulate abortion clinics and maybe save unborn lives in the process. Don't they know that sensible, moderate Republicans like Arizona governor Jan Brewer have had it with their shenanigans and want to get on to business that is less, well, controversial?

That, essentially, is the gripe of Fernanda Santos's page A16 story in Friday's New York Times headlined "Day After Veto, Arizona Takes Up Abortion Clinics" (emphasis mine):

WSJ's Coverage of SB 1062 Veto Is Objective; WaPo, NYTimes Slant Story
By Ken Shepherd | February 27, 2014 | 7:45 PM EST

Of the nation's three most respected papers of record -- the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal -- only the latter portrayed accurately the religious freedom legislation -- click here for a .pdf of the bill, SB 1062 -- which Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) vetoed Wednesday evening.

Both reporter Tamara Audi and her editors treated Journal readers to a fairly balanced and objective treatment of the veto and the purpose of the underlying legislation. "Veto Kills Arizona Religious Measure," noted the headline on page A2 of the February 27 paper. By contrast, the headers for the print stories at the Washington Post and New York Times were loaded.

NYT's Backhanded Compliment for AZ Gov. Brewer: 'Compassionate...Not a Word Often Used to Describe Her'
By Clay Waters | January 22, 2013 | 7:01 AM EST

New York Times Phoenix bureau chief Fernanda Santos reported Sunday on Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's controversial action to expand Medicaid in Arizona, in a story full of labeling bias and a denigrating description of the supposedly uncompassionate governor: "Medicaid Expansion Is Delicate Maneuver for Arizona's Republican Governor." (Previously, Santos has advocated for Arizona's illegal immigrants cowering in "the shadows.")

New York Times Reporter Again Advocates for Illegals Cowering in the 'Shadows'
By Clay Waters | April 19, 2012 | 11:07 AM EDT

Other than "climate change," no issue brings out the New York Times's liberal bias more than illegal immigration. Thursday Times reporter Fernanda Santos piled on the pro-illegal immigrant tropes in her story from Phoenix, "In Arizona, Immigrants Make Plans In Shadows." Santos claims an Arizona law "seeks to push illegal immigrants out of the state by making it hard for them to go about their lives and earn a living." The paper has used that sympathetic description in several purportedly objective news stories about illegal immigrants.

Another beloved Times cliche: "shadows." The Times loves to call up the image of illegal immigrants cowering "in the shadows" -- the phrase has cropped up in several news stories, though it doesn't seem to jive with the massive pro-amnesty street demonstrations put on my immigrant supporters (and the photos of illegals that constantly grace the paper, like the one below).

The NY Times Plants Pro-ACORN Propaganda
By Clay Waters | February 18, 2009 | 2:13 PM EST

New York Times metro-beat reporter Fernanda Santos seems to truly believe that the left-wing housing activist group ACORN is some bottom-up citizens organization conducting a new civil rights "resistance movement" against unfair foreclosures. That's judging by her credulous story, "A Bid to Link Arms Against Eviction -- Grass-Roots Effort Takes Shape To Support Families Facing Foreclosure." There's nothing in Santos's story Wednesday about the fact that the leader of this alleged "grass-roots effort," ACORN, receives funding from the federal government through various federal programs and third-party groups, or that it registered thousands and thousands of ineligible voters during the last presidential campaign. Instead, readers were treated to 1,260 words of "power to the people" sloganeering straight from ACORN without a single dissenting voice.

As resistance to foreclosure evictions grows among homeowners, community leaders and some law enforcement officials, a broad civil disobedience campaign is starting in New York and other cities to support families who refuse orders to vacate their homes.