: From Reader Kyle:

by Chris White

The New York Times changed a headline in an article Saturday morning about the government shutdown that absolves Democrats of blame for the impasse.

The original version of the NYT headline on an article reporting the news reads: “Senate Democrat Block Bill to Keep Government Open Past Midnight, Shutdown Looms” — which went through various changes as negotiations on the budget deal broke down.

But a final version of the headline was published at 12:01 am and appears to dramatically downplay Democrats responsibility in the matter, according to an analysis The Daily Caller News Foundation conducted using NewsDiffs, a website that tracks changes made to high-performing articles.

The final version of the headline states: “Government Shuts Down as Bill to Extend Funding Is Blocked.” TheNYT altered the original article substantially as well. Editors nixed a sentence, for instance, noting that, “Senate Democrats blocked passage of a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open.”

TheNYT has not responded to TheDCNF’s questions about the reason for the changes, which could include the need to keep up with the hustle and bustle of the budget negotiations. Yet, many other legacy news outlets ran with headlines leveling criticism on Democrats for the inability to prevent a government shutdown.

“U.S. Shutdown Starts as Senate Democrats Block GOP Funding Plan” a Bloomberg headline blared early Saturday morning, referring to the Senate’s inability to agree on a variety of budgetary issues. AP chimed in with a similar headline reflecting the sheer anarchy surrounding the budget negotiating process.