Before beginning the excerpt of Warren Henry’s above-titled article at The Federalist about the New York Times, this stood out as one of his most important paragraphs.
In reality, the stories of post-election hate crimes often tend to be false or less than advertised, time after time after time after time after time after time after time after time after time after time after time after time after time after time after time after time, to name a few examples. Hate crime hoaxes (often self-reported and unsubstantiated) are dangerous not only because they sow doubt about legitimate hate crimes, but also because they fuel the hysteria in the sort of people who treat The New York Times or the Southern Poverty Law Center as gospel. The Times does not seem concerned at whether the stories being shared on social media might be the sort of “fake news” the paper has been quick to decry in other contexts.
Here is Henry’s opening:
The problem with these mea culpas and modified, limited hang-outs is that anyone familiar with the history of The New York Times has seen this movie before.
The election of Donald Trump supposedly shocked the leadership of The New York Times into self-reflection, if not an outright reassessment of the way it reports on America and its politics. This resolve is already melting away, if the early results are any sign.
Noting the “unexpected” election result, the NYT’s publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., and its executive editor, Dean Baquet, wrote to readers that they would: “rededicate [them]selves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism. That is to report America and the world honestly, without fear or favor, striving always to understand and reflect all political perspectives and life experiences in the stories that we bring to you.”
Read more: The Federalist
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