One hundred and 23 years later, the New York Times still boasts of its alleged objectivity with the phrase “All the News That’s Fit to Print” located on the upper left-hand corner of its front page. The slogan was the idea of the paper’s owner Adolph S. Ochs in 1897. He meant it as “a declaration of the newspaper’s intention to report the news impartially,” according to the language arts Website ReadWriteThink.
Surely, Mr. Ochs would be displeased, at best, if he could see what has happened to the Gray Lady, as the paper has been called. Its bias shines bright in each and every edition these days as it proudly exposes its leftist agenda.
Bari Weiss was the editor of the Opinion section of the New York Times. She resigned earlier this month. Some might say she was forced to quit her job. As she put it in her scathing letter of resignation: “Why edit something challenging to our readers, or write something bold only to go through the numbing process of making it ideologically kosher, when we can assure ourselves of job security (and clicks) by publishing our 4000th op-ed arguing that Donald Trump is a unique danger to the country and the world? And so self-censorship has become the norm.”
It is interesting to note that Ms. Weiss’ departure came just a few weeks after her predecessor, James Bennet, was forced to resign for publishing an OpEd by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-AR, with the headline, “Send In the Troops.” It advocated a “show of force” as a means of dealing with the scourge of militant protestors menacing the streets of cities across the country.
Bari Weiss described the onerous pressure on writers and editors at the paper this way: “Op-eds that would have easily been published just two years ago would now get an editor or a writer in serious trouble, if not fired. If a piece is perceived as likely to inspire backlash internally or on social media, the editor or writer avoids pitching it. If she feels strongly enough to suggest it, she is quickly steered to safer ground. And if, every now and then, she succeeds in getting a piece published that does not explicitly promote progressive causes, it happens only after every line is carefully massaged, negotiated and caveated.”
Rasmussen Reports conducted a survey soon after Ms. Weiss resigned, asking the question: “As places like The Times and other once-great journalistic institutions betray their standards and lose sight of their principles, Americans still hunger for news that is accurate, opinions that are vital and debate that is sincere.” Only 24% of the respondents could disagree with the statement.
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