The New York Times published no reports in its March 30 edition about a national security platform that Democratic leaders released on March 29, in advance of the midterm elections. On March 29, the Times previewed the Democrats' security platform by reporting that "[m]ost of the proposals are not new" and relaying Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond's (R-MO) claim that "[i]t's taken them [Democrats] all this time to figure out what we've been doing for a long time." As Media Matters for America noted, that article made no mention that congressional Republicans -- including Bond -- have blocked the Democrats' “not new” security proposals for years.

In contrast to the Times, other major news outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press, published March 30 reports examining the platform; The New York Times carried the AP report on its website, but the newspaper did not publish it -- or any other report on the subject -- in its print edition.