Apple is an extremely manipulative company when it comes to the press.

Some outlets are favored, and some are not.

(In the interest of disclosure, you should know that we are not. We have made a decision to call it like we see it, because that's what we would want as readers. Apple doesn't always like the way we see it.)

Yesterday, a few favored outlets got early access to Apple's newest Mac operating system, Mountain Lion, and some even got access to speak with executives at Apple.

The Wall Street Journal, in particular, got an exclusive interview with Tim Cook where, as usual, he said nothing interesting at all.

The New York Times, however, did not get access to Cook. This led Erik Wemple at The Washington Post to suggest Apple shafted the NYT because it wrote about Apple's Foxconn working conditions. An anonymous NYTer even said, "They are playing access journalism...I’ve heard it from people inside Apple: They said, look, you guys are going to get less access based on the iEconomy series."

Oh. My. God. Get over yourself.

First off, David Pogue at the New York Times did get access to the pre-released operating system, which also might mean he got to speak with some of the company's executives.

Second, the New York Times does not have some God-given right to interview Tim Cook or other Apple executives. One outlet got the interview, The Wall Street Journal, and like we said, it was a boring interview, anyway!

Did Apple give the NYT a cold shoulder because it wrote mean things about it? Probably! But, what do you expect? Why wouldn't it do that? On what planet does it have some obligation to talk to the Times?

This is how Apple operates, and guess what? It works pretty freaking well. It's the biggest company in the world, and people love it. If it's not giving you access, then suck it up like the rest of us and just deal with it.

No access to Apple is liberating. You don't have to worry about what you say, you can just tell the truth!

So congratulations NYT, and welcome to the club. We're happy to have you here, and we think your work will get better, not worse, now that you don't have to worry about trying to get Tim Cook to utter corporate platitudes in your paper.

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