It seems that way if you compare how the daily dealt with recent developments in connection with the controversy surrounding the proposed Islamic Center for downtown NYC.

You'll recall that just over two weeks ago the Anti-Defamation League weighed in on the side of (mostly conservative, partisan) opponents of the center. The Times went big with the story on A1, declaring that the ADL's press release “could well be a turning point in the battle over the project.” Suggesting the tide “could well be turning” against the center.

That seemed to be a stretch. (Since then, the center has received additional, and final, green lights from the city.)

More recently, the president expressed his support for the right of Muslims to build the downtown center. (Obama has not said whether he thinks the idea is a good one.) So did the Times announce that Obama's encouraging comments “could well be a turning point in the battle over the project”?

The Times did not.

Maybe if Obama had issued a press release the Times would have been more impressed. That seemed to work for the ADL.