Rotten Apple coverage

How exactly did the New York press miss the fact that the extravagantly financed Michael Bloomberg express almost got derailed? Local news organizations didn't take the race all that seriously. Nor did many national reporters shuttle in to offer their take. Sure, the New York media reported that some folks were disgruntled by the self-serving trashing of term limits. But that was portrayed more as a minor irritant. There was an obligatory quality to the stories about Thompson, the city's comptroller, as if no one had to really contend with the notion that he might pull off an upset. The general consensus in the Apple is that Bloomberg, who took office after 9/11 and really struggled for his first two years, has done a pretty good job. But for a guy who rode a wave of media hype about a possible independent bid for president, to barely clear 50 percent against an underfunded challenger is something of a comedown. What the press generally does in cases like this is adopt a no-one-could-have-seen-this-coming tone, such as the New York Times reporting Wednesday that "the margin seemed to startle Mr. Bloomberg's aides and the city's political establishment." But not the New York Times?