******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. *****************************************************************
This was no mistake, Louis. > On June 5, 2020 at 2:17 PM Louis Proyect via Marxism > <marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu mailto:marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu > wrote: > > > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > (The Gray Lady airs its dirty laundry.) > > NY Times, June 5, 2020 > New York Times Says Senator’s Op-Ed Did Not Meet Standards > By Marc Tracy, Rachel Abrams and Edmund Lee > > Executives at The New York Times scrambled on Thursday to address the > concerns of employees and readers who were angered by the newspaper’s > publication of an opinion essay by a United States senator calling for > the federal government to send the military to suppress protests against > police violence in American cities. > > James Bennet, the editor in charge of the opinion section, said in a > meeting with staff members late in the day that he had not read the > essay before it was published. Shortly afterward, The Times issued a > statement saying the essay fell short of the newspaper’s standards. > > “We’ve examined the piece and the process leading up to its > publication,” Eileen Murphy, a Times spokeswoman, said in a statement. > “This review made clear that a rushed editorial process led to the > publication of an Op-Ed that did not meet our standards. As a result, > we’re planning to examine both short-term and long-term changes, to > include expanding our fact-checking operation and reducing the number of > Op-Eds we publish.” > > The Op-Ed, by Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, was posted on the > Times website on Wednesday afternoon with “Send In the Troops” as its > headline. “One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: > an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter > lawbreakers,” the senator wrote. > > More than 800 staff members signed a letter protesting its publication, > according to a union member involved in the letter. Addressed to > high-ranking editors in the opinion and news divisions, as well as New > York Times Company executives, the letter argued that Mr. Cotton’s essay > contained misinformation, such as his depiction of the role of “antifa” > in the protests. > > Dozens of Times employees objected to the Op-Ed on social media, despite > a company policy that instructs them not to post partisan comments or > take sides on issues. Many of them responded on Twitter with the > sentence, “Running this puts Black @NYTimes staff in danger.” More than > 160 employees planned a virtual walkout for Friday morning, according to > two organizers of the protest. > > Conversation and debate filled videoconference meetings for many > newsroom departments on Thursday. The newspaper scheduled a town-hall > meeting for Friday to allow employees to express their concerns to > company leaders, including A. G. Sulzberger, the publisher; Dean Baquet, > the executive editor; and Mr. Bennet, the editorial page editor. > > Mr. Bennet said in a video meeting attended by Mr. Sulzberger and > employees late on Thursday that he had not read Mr. Cotton’s essay > before it was published, according to two people who were present. > > On Thursday morning, Mr. Sulzberger had sent an email to the staff > backing the Op-Ed’s publication. > > “I believe in the principle of openness to a range of opinions, even > those we may disagree with, and this piece was published in that > spirit,” he wrote. “But it’s essential that we listen to and reflect on > the concerns we’re hearing, as we would with any piece that is the > subject of significant criticism. I will do so with an open mind.” > > He added, “We don’t publish just any argument — they need to be > accurate, good faith explorations of the issues of the day.” > > On Thursday night, Mr. Sulzberger struck a somewhat different tone in a > Slack message sent to company employees. He said that “a rushed > editorial process” led to the publication of an Op-Ed “that did not meet > our standards.” He added that an editor’s note from the newspaper’s > standards department was on its way. > > “Given that this is not the first lapse, the Opinion department will > also be taking several initial steps to reduce the likelihood of > something like this happening again,” Mr. Sulzberger said. He added that > the opinion section would “rethink Op-Eds, generally” for the social > media age. > > Mr. Bennet had also defended publishing the Op-Ed early on Thursday, > saying in an article published on the Times website that he disagreed > with Mr. Cotton’s opinion but believed that it was important to publish > views that ran counter to his own. > > “It would undermine the integrity and independence of The New York Times > if we only published views that editors like me agreed with, and it > would betray what I think of as our fundamental purpose — not to tell > you what to think, but to help you think for yourself.” > > Through a Times spokeswoman, Mr. Sulzberger and Mr. Bennet declined > requests for interviews. > > The Op-Ed was handled by Adam Rubenstein, an editor in the opinion > section, according to staff members in that department. Several of them > said they had not been aware of the article before it was published. > > During the editing process, Mr. Rubenstein asked a photo editor, Jeffrey > Henson Scales, for photographs of state and federal forces who were sent > to the University of Mississippi in 1962 to quell segregationists > protesting the enrollment of the first African-American student at the > school. Mr. Cotton had cited the military’s role in desegregation to > make the case for sending troops into the streets. > > Mr. Scales raised an objection. “A false equivalence, but historical > images are there now,” he wrote to Mr. Rubenstein on Slack, the internal > messaging software used by Times employees. > > “Yeah, there are a few in there,” Mr. Rubenstein responded, adding an > emoji of a frowning face. > > Mr. Scales objected again in the Opinion section’s Slack channel shortly > after it was published online, calling the Op-Ed “highly inappropriate.” > At the time he was unaware that the essay had already appeared online, > he said in an interview. > > Mr. Rubenstein referred a request for comment to a Times spokeswoman, > who did not reply to inquiries. > > In a video meeting of the opinion department on Thursday afternoon, Mr. > Bennet and James Dao, the deputy editorial page editor, acknowledged > that there had been a breakdown in the process of preparing the essay > for publication, according to four people who attended it. The editors > said that the article had been fact-checked, but added that they would > fact-check it again. Mr. Dao did not reply to a request for comment. > > Mr. Baquet, the executive editor, who oversees the news division, which > is run separately from the opinion department, said he heard from a > number of reporters and editors who believed that the Op-Ed did not meet > the standards of The Times. > > “When my newsroom is agitated, I respond to that,” he said. > > He acknowledged that some readers might not be aware of the wall > separating the news and opinion departments. He said he first saw the > Op-Ed when it was posted online. > > “I’ve had very sophisticated people say to me, ‘I had no idea that > opinion and news were separate,’” he said, adding, “I don’t think we’ve > always done the best job in the world explaining that to people and > making the distinction.” > > Mr. Baquet declined to comment on the substance of the Op-Ed, but said > he agreed with those who believe the opinion section should include a > wide range of views. > > In the days leading up to the Op-Ed’s publication, Mr. Cotton called for > military action against what he saw as violent protests in a series of > tweets. In one he called for “No quarter for insurrectionists, > anarchists, rioters, and looters.” Giving “no quarter” to enemy > combatants is considered a war crime in modern international conflicts, > under a statute of the International Criminal Court. > > On Thursday, the senator tweeted his praise for Times leadership: “They > ran my piece — even if they disagreed with it — and stood up to the woke > progressive mob in their own newsroom.” > > But after The Times said the Op-Ed did not meet its standards, Mr. > Cotton’s office put out a statement: “We weren’t contacted by The New > York Times in advance of this statement and our editorial process was > similar to our past experiences at The New York Times and other > publications. We’re curious to know what part of that process and this > piece didn’t meet their standards.” > > The senator had previously contributed to the opinion section, arguing > last year that the United States should buy Greenland. > > Mr. Cotton has also clashed with Times editors. In 2006, as an Army > lieutenant serving in Iraq, Mr. Cotton called for the prosecution and > imprisonment of Bill Keller, then the executive editor of The Times, and > two of the paper’s reporters, Eric Lichtblau and James Risen. He accused > them of violating espionage laws in reporting how U.S. counterterrorism > officials had uncovered the funding schemes behind Al Qaeda and other > terrorist groups. > > The national mood has been brought to a boil by a polarizing presidency, > a once-in-a-century pandemic and the protests touched off by the death > of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in police custody in > Minneapolis last month. > > Mr. Bennet served as the paper's Jerusalem bureau chief before taking a > job as the editor in chief of The Atlantic in 2006. He returned to The > Times, as its editorial page editor, in 2016. He has hired several young > writers for the opinion section, many of them with expertise in the tech > industry, and added more conservative voices. Last year, Brent Staples, > a member of the opinion staff, won a Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing > for a series of columns on race and America. > > Mr. Bennet’s tenure has had its bumps. Last year, a federal appellate > court found that Sarah Palin, the former vice-presidential candidate, > could proceed with a defamation lawsuit against The Times over an > editorial edited by Mr. Bennet that inaccurately linked her statements > to the 2011 shooting of a United States congresswoman. > > Two years ago, Mr. Bennet hired a journalist as the opinion department’s > lead tech writer, only to rescind the job offer after a social media > storm over her past use of slurs and friendship with an internet troll > who had worked for a neo-Nazi website. > > > > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/wytheholt%40cox.net > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
