http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/247534-publisher-takes-on-nyt-over-cruz-bestseller-listJuly 10, 2015, 02:41 pm
Cruz campaign rips NYT for leaving book off bestseller list
By Jesse Byrnes
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's campaign is blasting The New York Times for not including the GOP presidential candidate's book on its influential bestseller list.
It described the newspaper's initial explanations for not including the recently released A Time For Truth as "cryptic" and "false," and suggested the Times "does not want people to read the book."
“The Times is presumably embarrassed by having their obvious partisan bias called out. But their response—alleging ‘strategic bulk purchases’—is a blatant falsehood,” campaign spokesperson Rick Tyler said in a statement.
“The evidence is directly to the contrary. In leveling this false charge, the Times has tried to impugn the integrity of Senator Cruz and of his publisher Harper Collins," Tyler continued.
“We call on the Times, release your so-called ‘evidence.’ Demonstrate that your charge isn’t simply a naked fabrication, designed to cover up your own partisan agenda. And, if you cannot do so, then issue a public apology to Senator Cruz and Harper Collins editor Adam Bellow for making false charges against them," he added.
A spokesperson said the Times stood by its statement Thursday night and had no additional comment.
In an initial response, Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy told Politico that the Times had "uniform standards that we apply to our best seller list, which includes an analysis of book sales that goes beyond simply the number of books sold."
"Our goal is that the list reflect authentic best sellers, so we look at and analyze not just numbers, but patterns of sales for every book," she added later to the newspaper.
The Times currently lists a book from Ann Coulter on its bestseller list, and previously titles from commentators such as Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly have also appeared on there.
“In the case of this book, the overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases,” Murphy told Politico.
Publishing titan HarperCollins also criticized the Times for omitting Cruz's book.
In a statement to BuzzFeed, HarperCollins said an investigation into the sales patterns of Cruz's A Time For Truth produced “no evidence of bulk orders or sales through any retailer or organization.”
BuzzFeed noted that some politicians will have their campaigns or allied groups purchase many copies of their books to propel the books onto the Times’ bestseller list.
Cruz's book sold 11,854 copies, more than the No. 2 title on the list, Aziz Ansari’s Modern Romance, according to Politico.
This story was updated at 3:36 p.m.
