Jazmine Hughes, a writer for the New York Times Magazine, resigned this week after a conflict with her editors over signing of an anti-Israeli letter. New York Times Magazine Editor Jake Silverstein said Hughes violated the company’s policy on public protest. The incident exposes the inherent conflicts — and hypocrisy — in the shift away from neutrality in reporting in media companies and graduate programs.
I have long been a critic of what I called “advocacy journalism” as it began to emerge in journalism schools. These schools encourage students to use their “lived expertise” and to “leave[] neutrality behind.” Instead, of neutrality, they are pushing “solidarity [as] ‘a commitment to social justice that translates into action.’”
For example, we previously discussed the release of the results of interviews with over 75 media leaders by former executive editor for The Washington Post Leonard Downie Jr. and former CBS News President Andrew Heyward. They concluded that objectivity is now considered reactionary and even harmful. Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle said it plainly: “Objectivity has got to go.”
Saying that “Objectivity has got to go” is, of course, liberating. You can dispense with the necessities of neutrality and balance. You can cater to your “base” like columnists and opinion writers. Sharing the opposing view is now dismissed as “bothsidesism.” Done. No need to give credence to opposing views. It is a familiar reality for those of us in higher education, which has been increasingly intolerant of opposing or dissenting views.
Downie recounted how news leaders today
“believe that pursuing objectivity can lead to false balance or misleading “bothsidesism” in covering stories about race, the treatment of women, LGBTQ+ rights, income inequality, climate change and many other subjects. And, in today’s diversifying newsrooms, they feel it negates many of their own identities, life experiences and cultural contexts, keeping them from pursuing truth in their work.”
There was a time when all journalists shared a common “identity” as professionals who were able to separate their own bias and values from the reporting of the news.
Now, objectivity is virtually synonymous with prejudice. Kathleen Carroll, former executive editor at the Associated Press declared “It’s objective by whose standard? … That standard seems to be White, educated, and fairly wealthy.”
In an interview with The Stanford Daily, Stanford journalism professor, Ted Glasser, insisted that journalism needed to “free itself from this notion of objectivity to develop a sense of social justice.” He rejected the notion that journalism is based on objectivity and said that he views “journalists as activists because journalism at its best — and indeed history at its best — is all about morality.” Thus, “Journalists need to be overt and candid advocates for social justice, and it’s hard to do that under the constraints of objectivity.”
Lauren Wolfe, the fired freelance editor for the New York Times, has not only gone public to defend her pro-Biden tweet but published a piece titled “I’m a Biased Journalist and I’m Okay With That.”
Former New York Times writer (and now Howard University Journalism Professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones is a leading voice for advocacy journalism.
Indeed, Hannah-Jones has declared “all journalism is activism.”
At the same time, outlets like National Public Radio have abandoned the rule that journalists should not engage in public protests.
NPR declared that it would allow employees to participate in political protests when the editors believe the causes advance the “freedom and dignity of human beings.” So it remained up to the editors if a reporter could join a pro-life protest (unlikely) or a pro-gun control protest (very likely).
Hughes represents this new generation of reporters that have been told for years to leave neutrality behind on a newspaper that fired editors for publishing an opinion piece by a conservative senator.
Siverstein stated “while I respect that she has strong convictions, this was a clear violation of The Times’s policy on public protest. This policy, which I fully support, is an important part of our commitment to independence.”
Hughes signed a letter dated Oct. 26 titled “Writers Against the War on Gaza,” that declared “Israel’s war against Gaza is an attempt to conduct genocide against the Palestinian people.”
The letter specifically criticized the New York Times for an editorial supporting Israel and criticized “establishment media outlets” who call the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas “unprovoked.”
The letter stated “We cannot write a free Palestine into existence, but together we must do all we possibly can to reject narratives that soothe Western complicity in ethnic cleansing.”
I can understand why writers like Hughes are confused. Media outlets like NPR will allow them to protest if the editors agree with their causes while NY Times pledges that it will not publish the views of senators on protests while publishing foreign figures accused of unspeakable acts against protesters or academics who have said that they are fine with killing conservatives.
Of course, none of this is sustainable for the industry.
What is most striking about this universal shift toward advocacy journalism (including at journalism schools) is that there is no evidence that it is a sustainable approach for the media as an industry. While outfits like NPR allow reporters to actually participate in protests and the New York Times sheds conservative opinions, the new polling shows a sharp and worrisome division in trust in the media. Not surprisingly, given the heavy slant of American media, Democrats are largely happy with and trusting of the media. Conversely, Republicans and independents are not. The question is whether the mainstream media can survive and flourish by writing off over half of the country.
A 2021 study from the non-partisan Pew Research Center showed a massive decline in trust among Republicans. Five years ago, 70 percent of Republicans said they had at least some trust in national news organizations. In 2021, that trust was down to just 35 percent. Conversely, and not surprisingly, 78 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saying they have “a lot” or “some” trust in the media. When you just ask liberal Democrats, it jumps to 83 percent.
This latest polling shows that the problem is only getting more acute for the media.
Yet, instead of denouncing the shift to advocacy journalism, media outlets are seeking to simply maintain a selective, NPR-like line of what advocacy is to be allowed, even fostered.
Notably, hundreds of journalists signed this letter but Hughes is the only one known to have left her position with their media company. We previously discussed how hundreds of writers and editors signed a petition to censor Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett (citing their publishing company affiliations).
The problem for the NY Times is not severing ties with Hughes over her public advocacy, but the paper’s embrace of such advocacy in coverage, including its recent controversy over spreading false claims that Israel clearly bombed a hospital causing hundreds of deaths in Gaza.
If editors are actively telling young reporters to “leave neutrality behind,” they can hardly be surprised when writers like Hughes sign these letters.
“Both investigations had been going on for months before DJT announced his candidacy on Nov. 2 of last year.” Therefore, the prosecutions (read “persecutions”) are not motivated by a desire to kneecap Trump the candidate.
Anyone see the obvious fallacy there?
Jonathan: Some on your blog bizarrely think DJT is being prosecuted only because he is ahead in the current polls in certain states. That’s not the reason. Jack Smith filed his indictment over the Capitol insurrection on August 2, 2023. Fani Willis filed her RICO indictment about two weeks later. Both investigations had been going on for months before DJT announced his candidacy on Nov. 2 of last year. It appears the supporters of DJT on this blog have been drinking way too much of the MAGA cool aid. DJT is being prosecuted because he violated federal and state laws. Does anyone really think DJT would not have been prosecuted had he decided not to run? Under our criminal justice system no one is above the law–not even a former president. That’s, undoubtedly, a difficult concept for some on this blog to comprehend.
“Under our criminal justice system no one is above the law–not even a former president.”
How about the current president?
The absolute stupidity and ignorance of MSNBC viewers is astounding.
We have no “justice system” with these Democrat Communists abusing power. Democrats have destroyed rule of law & our democracy. Rule of law is dead. We are devolving into a totalitarian state run by lawless, vicious, deceptive, devious, stupid, ignorant, and ideologically driven leftists. They don’t care about laws, constitutions, civil rights, fairness, ethics — none of that matters. By ANY means necessary is their only guiding principle. Period. This cannot be tolerated another day. Where are the Republicans?? My God. DO something.
VOTE Republican up and down every ballot in every jurisdiction in this country if you want to save what’s left of our country. There must be some Democrats still out there with integrity and honor who can hold their nose and vote RED because they understand what time it is in our country.
Or you can wave goodbye to America if you vote Democrat/blue. Not a joke, as FJB likes to say.
The best way to handle advocacy journalism is to not watch nor subscribe to services that do not present facts from real sources. What makes this difficult for those who do seek to understand the facts, is that they have to sample from multiple information sources and compare and contrast what is opinion and fact. Those who do not take this effort are left clueless.
I miss the days of reading a real newspaper during breakfast and coffee. During the last election, our news paper, more than a hundred years old, had gone downhill and did little objective reporting and filled in national news from the Associated Press. Sure, if there was an earthquake, tornado or a car accident, they still did a pretty good job. Regarding national news, they went by the wayside, the readership diminished and they started cutting the size of their paper and began their cycle of demise. I buy the Sunday paper now and then only to confirm that it is worthless. Elvis has left the building.
This does not bide well for our nation. Now, business owners are helpless to do anything about rampant shoplifters, homeless, people defecating on the sidewalk, fornicating in public and the fentanyl zombies dancing in the busy streets. This is what my blue city provides for us. Car jackings, thugs beating up little old women and robbing them, and police leaving daily is then new norm. Oh, yes, the politicians will get up and say, “This has got to stop: but they won’t do a damned thing about it. The border is being overrun by millions. What is it now, 8 million officially? I would do the same if I were them, but they owe the cartel and when they want a favor called in they had better deliver.
This is not random. This is on purpose. It is designed to destroy this nation. The United States is one of the only places left on earth where free speech is still allowed and where an individual with ambition and the willingness to work hard still has a shot at life. This independent thought drives those who wish to dominate and control people nuts. There is not other logical reason for this insanity. We are witnessing evil. Pure and intentional evil.
Advocacy Journalism is not journalism, like kosher styled Delicatessens are not kosher.
Do you know what they call alternative medicine that works?
Medicine.
I am not a journalist nor have highly educated credential but I see “advocacy journalism” as an extension of or it branches “falsehood journalism”.
DM is a total Leftist dupe, dope, and dummy–yes, all three. The NY State case is a total fraud and will be thrown out on appeal. Engoron obviously violated the law multiple times and he won’t get away with his lies when the case results are reviewed by real judges.
(I assume that somee genuine judges who follow the law exist in the NY State court of appeals, but who know. But even if they don’t exist there either, it will still ultimately be thrown out by the SCOTUS, if it has to come to that, because the case is patently fraudulent.)
Leftist DM is clutching at nonbiodegradable straws again, but that’s all the DM creature’s got. Trump wins again!
Here’s the classic video showing Leftist DM’s response to the inevitable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1IrRxoRkbQ
This never grows old.
Jonathan: I rarely post this late at night but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to comment on the testimony of Eric Trump and Don Jr. this week before Judge Ergonon.
Under NY corporate law , if a person wants to serve as a corporate officer of a NY corporation they have duties and responsibilities. In the case of the above they also served as trustees which also carries additional fiduciary obligations as well. The brothers Trump didn’t follow established corporate law or the responsibilities of trustees. They both testified they weren’t familiar with GAAP and didn’t help prepare statements of financial conditions of the Trump Organization. They testified they relied on “outside experts”. But that’s no excuse. Under NY corporate law an officer of a company is responsible for ensuring all financial statements are true and accurate. Eric and Don Jr. signed off on statements of financial conditions they knew or should have known were false.
So why didn’t DJT put executives with real expertise and knowledge of NY corporate law in charge of his companies in his absence? I think the answer lies in the fact DJT didn’t want competent control officers in charge because they might discover all the financial fraud that had been going on for years. So DJT chose his kids who would willingly go along with cooking the books. They lived the good life. Why would they want to blow the whistle on dad? It was a “family affair”.
So now Eric and Don Jr. are in a heap of legal trouble. “Willful ignorance” is no defense to the crime of perjury.
At least they were not selling out their country.
NEW YORK TIMES: “Voters under 30 favor Mr. Biden by only a single percentage point, his lead among Hispanic voters is down to single digits and his advantage in urban areas is half of Mr. Trump’s edge in rural regions. And while women still favored Mr. Biden, men preferred Mr. Trump by twice as large a margin, reversing the gender advantage that had fueled so many Democratic gains in recent years.
Black voters — long a bulwark for Democrats and for Mr. Biden — are now registering 22 percent support in these states for Mr. Trump, a level unseen in presidential politics for a Republican in modern times.”
Nov 5, 2023
___________________________________________________________________
Uh oh! Time to arrest Trump again! Destroy him!
Destroy his businesses! Destroy his children, too!
Where da corrupt prosecutors and judges at?
Get Trump taken off the ballot, stat! Deny the people their choice!
Democrat motto: By ANY means necessary!
And Dennis, pay attention to the fact that this support FOR Trump is right now, today, after 8 years of relentless media slander and deep state persecution, 2 impeachments, 1 coup d’état, and 91 pending felony counts.
The People of this country understand what the Dirty Democrats are doing.
Why don’t you?
It’s ridiculous to ask DM why he doesn’t grasp reality and insists on regurgitating his Leftist talking points. That’s what he’s been programmed to do by his Leftist masters. Thinking or reasoning aren’t options, as these functions have long ago shut down.
“We need to get Trump of the ballot in order to protect democracy.”
Wait…. what?
Dennis – Do you know WHY they are prosecuting Trump and his family?
The New York Times
@nytimes
President Biden is trailing Donald Trump in five of the six most important battleground states one year before the 2024 election, new polls by The New York Times and Siena College have found.
IF the NYT was an actual news reporting organization, they would be investigating and running stories like this so that the public could KNOW what truly bad people Biden and the rest of his corrupt family are:
“A chilling revelation in BREAKING BIDEN: Joe covered-up for brother Frank after a fatal hit-and-run car crash.
Frank refused to pay the man’s daughters their settlement.
Joe helped him hide.
Incredible cruelty.”
DETAILS HERE: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/10/06/exclusive-alex-marlows-breaking-biden-joe-biden-covered-for-brother-frank-after-he-was-involved-in-fatal-hit-and-run-car-crash/
Joe Biden is a bad person. Period.
The public NEEDS to KNOW what a corrupt liar, and what an all around despicable human being Joe Biden actually is and has always been.
Why won’t “the media” report anything negative about who Joe Biden really is?
The cretin Anonymous below, relying on Hamas presstitutes for hisher/its information, falsely suggests that Israel bears some responsibility for the civilian deaths in Gaza, when the opposite is true.
Anyone who knows anything about what’s going on in the Middle East knows that ALL of the Arab-Islamic nations, including, but not limited to, Egypt, Jordan, Syrua, Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have chosen NOT to help the civilians in any way, shape, or form. They could easily fund and arrange the evacuation of all citizens and set them up in comfort outside the war zone at any time, making them safe and secure. But they don’t do that because they WANT dead human shields that they can use as propaganda tools that the Presstitute Media will eat up and regurgitate for useful idiots like the cretin Anonymous below.
Of course, the US Presstitutes deliberately omit these vital facts because they get in the way of their lies where they blame Israel for the Criminal Acts of their IslamoCommuNazi allies.
I don’t get why you’re still running with the Israel bombed/didn’t bomb the hospital story- other intelligence agencies outside the US did not concur with US intelligence conclusions so why are you calling it false instead of saying inconclusive? In addition, there’s been several hospitals bombed by Israel AFTER that one so you’re digging the grave deeper here by sticking with that old narrative.
Yeah, we don’t blame you and the other antisemitic Dems for wanting to get the NYT’s abject failure out of the news as soon as possible.
But keep your chin up, ATS, your perseverance is an inspiration to us all!!!
“. . . several hospitals bombed by Israel AFTER . . .”
If true:
Such are the consequences of dictatorial terrorists (Hamas) locating their offices and hiding places *under* hospitals. That is a typical, barbaric strategy of Islamic terrorists. To them, civilians are merely fodder for their genocidal cause.
TRIGGER WARNING!
Multicultural hatred, on full display in this call and response chant by a mob on the Paris Metro, the aspirational transport mode of America’s progressive elite.
The hateful mob must have been trained at American journalism schools. Or maybe the mob is made up of J-school teachers and administrators. It’s hard to say, other than they’re all of a hive mind:
In the French:
Nique les juifs et Nique ta mère
Vive la Palestine Ouais Ouais
Nique les juifs et les grands-mères
On est des nazis et fiers!
English Translation:
F*** the Jews and f*** your mother
Long live Palestine yeah yeah
F*** the Jews and the grandmothers
We are Nazis and proud!
French has always been such a beautiful language! And what a wonderful sentiment expressed in full glory by the enlightened citizens of Paris, the city of light!!
Unfortunately, the original post with the uncensored f words wouldn’t clear the moderation filters put in place to protect our sensitive ears. We should be grateful for our privilege. Unlike, say, a Parisian Jew that needs to take the subway to get to work.
GOOD MORNING BOYS & GIRLS & ALL ELSE
TODAY is 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑. in 1-Year from now We The People will go to the Polls and VOTE !
🇺🇸 – 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨! ~ 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 – 🇺🇸
The 2024 United States presidential election will be the 60th quadrennial presidential election, scheduled for Tuesday, 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟓, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒. Voters will elect a president and vice president for a term of four years. Incumbent President Joe Biden, a member of the Democratic Party, is running for re-election.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidential_election
L’il Housekeeping:
The third Republican presidential debate is on this coming Wednesday 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟖𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 in Miami, Florida
The fourth Republican presidential debate is on Wednesday 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟔𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Keep Smiling 😀
1st Amendment
Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom…of the press;…
_________________________________________________________________________
Americans must be knowledgeable enough to discern communist propaganda and indoctrination from facts.
The MSM, American television and films include both explicit and subliminal communist propaganda and indoctrination.
Hughes signed a letter dated Oct. 26 titled “Writers Against the War on Gaza,” that declared “Israel’s war against Gaza is an attempt to conduct genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Recall Bari Weiss stated in her letter of resignation that the NYT knowingly employed anti-Semitic journalists. When they tell you they are Nazi anti-Semites, believe them. It is Charlottesville, VA “Unite the Right” on steroids.
The WSJ has a headline today with an ominous photo:
Blinken Assures Palestinians of Aid Amid Israel-Hamas War
In West Bank stop, he faces call from Abbas for immediate halt to Israeli assault
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/blinken-seeks-to-balance-aid-for-palestinian-civilians-against-israeli-self-defense-b2c442ec
The image is of a woman, dressed in black cloth, head to ankles, where only her eyes and toes are visible. She is wearing broken sandals as she is seen carrying a child in her arms. In the background are men dressed in bluejeans, t-shirts, exposed head, arms, faces, cavorting, not a care in the world about expressing themselves, skin or Western fashion-ware.
It is striking that Blinken’s talking points are about assuring a population of misogynists, wife beaters, enslaver of women, teachers of children to be terrorists and martyrs for a bloodthirsty cult, who pledges fealty to killing Jews “from the river to the sea”, and hiding missiles in subterranean tunnels positioned beneath hospitals.
Recall Biden’s rhetoric in 2019 when he labeled Trump as a Nazi racist:
When Joe Biden declared his candidacy for president in 2019, he began his announcement video with two words: “Charlottesville, Virginia.” With footage of marchers chanting “Jews will not replace us!” playing in the background, Biden called the infamous antisemitic rally a “defining moment for this nation.” He condemned the right-wing bigots with “veins bulging … chanting the same antisemitic bile heard across Europe in the ’30s.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/02/leftwing-antisemitism-protest-bigotry-palestinians-israel/
Yet Biden’s Handlers rush to the side of true racist, bigoted, homophobe, misogynist, anti-semitic terrorists. On the other hand, it is difficult to differentiate Hamas vs Black Lies Matter / ANTIFA, so there is that
Could not agree more.
@DavidLimbaugh
“It amazes me that this person is well respected and treated like a senior statesman of good will. He accelerated leftist radicalism in this country to warp speed and he continues doing it today. He is perversely anti-American.”
Any guess who ‘this person’ is?
Begins with O
This “perversely anti-American” fraud recently chimed in:
“What Hamas did was horrific, and there is no justification for it. And what is also true is that the occupation, and what’s happening to Palestinians, is unbearable…
“You have to admit that all of us are complicit to some degree.”
Uh, all of us? No.
Then just notice how the unbiased journalism/media “covers” this story.
. . . the occupation . . .
There is no occupation. You’ve been propagandized, and you believe the big lie.
If the faux and phantom “Palestinians” win this preposterous argument, America MUST be returned immediately to the Indians, oops, the Native Americans—of course, those people were only native to Asia and first arrived here long before America and Americans came into existence in 1789.
Geez! These people are absolutely nuts. No. I stand corrected. These parasites are brilliant in their effort to obtain something for nothing, that is, “free stuff,” more “free stuff,” and evermore “free stuff” (i.e. American taxpayers—the gift that keeps on giving).
They do pale, however, when juxtaposed with the greatest dependent parasitic leech in human history: Martin Lunatic Kink, plagiarist, fraudster, deceiver, philanderer, anti-Constitution communist, descendant of January 1, 1863, violators of the Naturalization Act of 1802, and outright liar, who, along with his exponentially greedy adherents, continues to receive the endless “gifts” of America posthumously.
Hamilton and Jefferson would have disagreed. They railed at each other so much in the various papers they controlled that Washington had to call them down for creating division in the new nation. Each thought that their perspective was the more rational and objective one, and these were two very smart and learned men. If those two could not agree on what was objectively and rationally the right things to do, then surely our job is just as daunting.
Objectivity is an aspirational goal that should motivate journalism, opinion pieces, etc., but, as we all know, the world we see and report on is filtered through each individual’s perception of that world. Add to that the choice of words used by the writer and heard by the hearer drive what is known – to that person. In my opinion, neither objectivity nor subjectivity are adequate to describe the world to another person because they are likely to either agree with your “objectivity” or determine that your “objectivity” is really “subjectivity” from their perspective.
So what is one to do: Try to present all sides using words that are not “loaded” but that too is nearly impossible to do.
Cassandra Willamson — Well stated!
Please chime in more often!
“Well stated!”
Really? What did she state?
Every word she used is self-contradictory.
Advocacy journalism is not journalism, it is propaganda, no?
Prevarication Equivocation
______________________________
“Just routine, ma’am, we just wanna’ get the facts.”
– Sergeant Joe Friday
“…the world we see and report on is filtered through each individual’s perception of that world. Add to that the choice of words used by the writer and heard by the hearer drive what is known – to that person.”
Add to THAT this observation from Sacha Stone:
“If you separate Trump’s charisma from his words, as the media does, stripping away the humor, sarcasm, humility, and charm, you’re left with sanitized statements that sound like they came from The Furhur himself.
And that’s been the whole game for seven agonizing years, watching them cherry-pick and misinterpret everything Trump says. Did he say it? Yes. But stripping away context and his natural-born charisma means the words have a different meaning.”
https://sashastone.substack.com/p/desantis-has-a-charisma-deficit?utm_campaign=email-post&r=xc2k&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#details
“. . . this observation from Sacha Stone:”
Really?
I read that observation as claiming that DT is the reincarnation of Thomas Jefferson.
By their own premises, anti-objectivity types are reduced to babbling.
“Objectivity is . . .”
Thank you for agreeing that objectivity is both an ideal and a reality.
When the legacy media reports what Republicans say, they almost always add “without evidence” – their new favorite phrase. When they report what Hamas says, they don’t add that qualifier. Nor do they add it when reporting what Democrats say.
So . . . when the NYT reported Hamas’s false claim that Israel had bombed the hospital, they didn’t say “without evidence.” They hid behind the idea that they were just reporting what Hamas said. They are pathetic, evil people at the NYT. Probably the absolute worst newspaper in the country. Well maybe tied for worst with the SF Chronicle, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Seattle Times, and basically any major paper in a blue city.
Kansas Elder, TNYT reporters and editors don’t know whether Hamas’s claim was “without evidence”. They did point out that the site had been cleaned of all physical evidence. That suggests (to me) that Hamas was lying.
But just reporting what is said is, I had rather thought, what reporters are supposed to do, yes?
I stand by my assertion that TNYT is one of the world’s very best newspapers. One cannot expect perfection.
Whether or not the NYT is “one of the world’s very best newspapers,” it is horrible. They are so dishonest. And while they put 100 disclaimers on anything a Republican says, they put zero disclaimers on what a terrorist organization says. They have blatant double-standards, always favoring evil over good. They are, in a word, pathetic.
David: “I stand by my assertion that TNYT is one of the world’s very best newspapers. One cannot expect perfection.”
+++
I wonder what disturbs me more, that you may be right or that you may be wrong.
Either case suggests journalism is in a sad state. Gell-Mann Amnesia suggests the problem is not new.
I sometimes found very good articles in the NYT, particularly those of Nicholas Wade, but he is gone now and the paper has been diminished since his departure from its pages.
The rise of blogs and substack and podcasts has considerably expanded our access to information that corporate media is inclined to censor. Turley’s blog is an example of that given his ability and willingness to tackle difficult issues.
The Covid epidemic revealed just how very bad much of corporate news is, even on simple matters. Substack, in particular, gave us access to very capable analysis by people who knew what they were doing and who took the time to demonstrate how they reached their conclusions so that anyone who put in the effort could work through it without relying only on ‘expert’ opinion. Look at Phil Harper’s substack, The Digger’ for example.
Thanks to those alternative sources the multiple veils are being parted and we can see that the government and ‘best’ journalistic sources like NYT have apparently been dishonest, lazy, and/or perhaps corrupted by money and power…maybe all of these.
Nicholas Wade published a lengthy article that, I thought, would likely prove beyond a reasonable doubt [the law’s criminal proof standard] that Covid escaped from the Wuhan lab. Corporate journalism likely would have shelved his article but our ‘intellingence’ agencies came to the same conclusion many months later.
As is finally becoming apparent to the general public, the Covid vax is neither safe nor effective but one could have learned that from substack and blogs long before it became too obvious to be completely hidden by our ‘best’ news sources.
Also apparent now is that the efforts of some physicians to manage Covid patients with early treatment with HCQ or Ivermectin combined with other substances saved lives and was far superior to the Fauci/government/hospital /money protocol of doing nothing until you have difficulty breathing and then go to the hospital and be treated with Remdesivir [can cause organ failure] and sedated, and put on a ventilator to die. Recently Elon Musk said ventilators killed more people than Covid. I think probably he is right. That’s how one personal friend of mine died.
All this was known and available early on, but only on blogs and substack, not on ‘best’ newspapers like the NYT.
There are many other examples but at times the National Enquirer has been more factual than the NYT.
Continue reading your favorite paper by all means, but remember Gell-Mann while you do.
Benson, you’re playing a bad hand. You’ve gotta know when to fold ’em.
Benson prides himself on doing his best to look like an idiot, howl like a lunatic and babble incoherencies all the while demanding others recognize him as a super genius with his 1959 CalTech academic degree. He is more entertaining than watching Wile E. Coyote as he hangs from a limb dangling from a cliff, burnt to a crisp, calling himself “super genius”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txG_QEoNwSA
Estovir has it wrong again! I didn’t graduate in 1959. But I was taught by some ‘super geniuses’. Maybe some rubbed off.
It’s too bad that Estovir doesn’t go visit with mental health professionals about his PTSD, or whatever it is that causes him to lash out at my scribblings here.
I didn’t graduate in 1959
I meant to type 1059, when universities had no knowledge of physics just like you.
…whatever it is that causes him to lash out at my scribblings here.
translation: you can’t take what you give out in spades. Crimea River.
How do your children ever put up with you, not that you ever mention them on this forum.
You know, David, degrees are pieces of paper that hopefully means a demonstration of competency when conferred at the time, which may or may not hold true > 10 years after graduation. You’d think someone who brags incessantly about his genius and expertise, would talk about the lasting things of life like beauty, love, family, giving to the less fortunate, mentoring others, family upbringing and the enduring imprint imparted by one’s parents, etc. Yet, you have never discussed any of these, not one.
When you dish it out on this forum to others as many years I have been here, you deserve every thing I have thrown at you. A truly intelligent man would have owned it, apologized and done better, especially since many on here for years have complained about your arrogance.
My dx stands: a person who fails at love (interpersonal relationships) is a failure at life. That’s on you
Alas, Estovir, you didn’t do your prior study. There were no universities in 1059.
So I’ll grade your entire essay “F”.
And I repeat that your throwing **dirt** at me shows that your interpersonal relationships need mending. Physician, heal thy self — is that not the phrase?
Now the purpose of these comments is supposed to be a discussion of Jonathan Turley’s blog essay. There is nothing about babbling on about personal life.
“78 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saying they have “a lot” or “some” trust in the media. When you just ask liberal Democrats, it jumps to 83 percent.”
David Bensen validates the statement by chiming in:
“I stand by my assertion that TNYT is one of the world’s very best newspapers.”
TNYT, OMG!
He probably commended Pravda and Izvestia under Stalin.
“Pravda, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.”
How ’bout them, they’re not even embarrassed to say it – “We’re the official communist newspaper,” what the —- is that —-?
We run the “dictatorship of the hired help” and it is mandatory, you are ordered to like it, comrades.
Freedom? We don’t need no stinking freedom!
Damn!
“But just reporting what is said is, I had rather thought, what reporters are supposed to do, yes?”
Shorn of context, that sounds good.
Then a thoughtful person realizes: Wait. The NYT source was a *terrorist* propaganda organization. And aren’t newspapers supposed to fact check?
“For tis the sport to have the enginer Hoist with his owne petar.”
Or is it shadenfreude?
Jonathan Turley, TNYT clearly stated that the report about the hospital bombing was from some Gazan agency. Later TNYT re-emphasized that Hamas ran that agency.
I opine that you don’t read so good…
They had the lede in giant letters and the retraction on page 85!
hullbobby, I read TNYT daily. Your statements are false.
Just when we thought it was safe to send the children back to school, here comes Benson to defend the indefensible!
EDKH —- TNYT isn’t perfect, just one of the world’s best newspapers.
Very disconcerting news.
HullBobby,
The fact they had to change their headlines and they took the word of Hamas controlled agency is a gross display of what a crap news outlet they have become.
Even my Democrat sister says they are crap.
Want good coverage, read The Free Press
We’re hoping you mean Bari Weiss, not the rag from what was once the proud city of Detroit 🙂
Weiss’ coverage of the atrocities in Israel and the antisemitic hate in this country is both first-rate and even-handed. Too bad the woke mob at the NYT canceled her. They could learn a thing or two.
“. . . report about the hospital bombing was from some Gazan agency. *Later* TNYT re-emphasized that Hamas ran that agency.” (Emphasis added)
You mean the NYT did not know *from the outset* that that report was from the Hamas’ terrorist propaganda machine?! They just ran with it?! Without first checking the reliability of the source?!
A cub reporter at a high school paper is not that irresponsible.
BTW, you’re not resurrecting the NYT. You’re burying it deeper.
(The only reason they later added that footnote, in mice type, is because they got caught.)
Wow, what a long-winded article about nothing, Prof. Turley! And filled with moronic labels like “advocacy journalism.” It’s not journalism at all! Journalism, investigative journalism, or any kind of journalism whatsoever doesn’t exist in the mainstream media any more. And it hasn’t for decades! And presstitution, not coincidentally, has been taught at Leftist Indoctrination Entities, aka LIES, for decades!
Today, as in previous years, the mainstream media is run and staffed by PRESTITUTES. That is the accurate name–and the ONLY name–to describe the activities of the mainstream media.
What will it take for Prof. Turley to finally recognize that the mainstream media is now just the PRESSTITUTION INDUSTRY? As one of the merging products of a Northwestern University, one of earliest schools to begin the transformation to a Leftist Indoctrination Entity, or LIE, perhaps Prof. Turley will see the light when the Deep State “intelligence” operatives sign a letter stating that “the mainstream media has all the earmarks of being run and staffed by presstitutes.”
Of course, since the Deep State “intelligence” operatives would never sign such a letter because it would actually tell the truth, something they never, ever do, it looks like Prof. Turley will continue to remain oblivious and in the dark.
I love it. Everybody loves the double edged sword as long as they are wielding it. When it chops off their livelihood it isn’t so great anymore. We’re not going to get our country back until everybody has the chance to experience that which they thought they wanted. It’s unfortunate that those of us with integrity have to suffer with the rest of the partisan wallowers like Turley but it is what it is. Wait till “Biden” “wins” again in 2024, plastic mask, impeachable offenses and all. Then you’ll all get to enjoy the wonders of the totalitarian regime that you’ve been yearning for.