JOSEPH CAMPBELL: 60 years after Bay of Pigs, New York Times role – and myth – made clear.

Sixty years ago, The New York Times is said to have muzzled itself in reporting about plans for the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion, earning a lasting niche of dishonor in the history of American journalism.

The Bay of Pigs-New York Times suppression tale has been cited in books, newspapers, on cable news shows and elsewhere as a study in self-censorship and its consequences.

Had the Times resisted the requests of President John F. Kennedy, had it printed all it knew about the pending invasion of Cuba, the suppression tale goes, the ill-fated assault might have been scrapped and the U.S. spared a foreign policy debacle.

The suppression tale makes for a timeless lesson about the perils for news organizations in yielding to government pressure and withholding vital if sensitive information, ostensibly because of national security implications. When government officials invoke national security, publishing secret material becomes a thorny matter for news outlets.

Well, it’s not like the legacy media being Democratic Party operatives with bylines is all that new a development.