Bari Weiss is well known in journalistic circles as a film critic, political analyst and editor. Her beliefs are quite liberal, but she always warned of the dangers of “left culture” and “left deviation”. It was such a person who best suited The New York Times in 2016 – a liberal, but not a socialist.
However, in four years, much has changed. The scandal surrounding the editor ripened a long time ago and came out when, at the end of May, a column of Republican Senator Tom Cotton appeared on the pages of the publication urging troops to enter American cities where riots and rallies began to threaten public safety. Then two editorial staff quit and, a flurry of criticism hit Weiss in media and social networks.
So Weiss left the New York Times. And not just left, but slammed the door. Her open letter to the publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, was published on the Internet.
The letter says that the atmosphere of “new McCarthyism” reigns in the publication, an open exchange of views is impossible, so the newspaper turned into a propaganda mouthpiece in the interests of a narrow political group. The publication no longer cares about the quality of materials, especially – about their weight and reliability.
“The truth is that intellectual curiosity is currently a burden in the newspaper. Why edit something challenging for our readers or write something bold just to go through the stunning process of turning it into ideologically kosher material, when we can guarantee ourselves the safety of work (and clicks) by publishing the 4000th article stating that Donald Trump poses a unique danger to the country and the world? Therefore, self-censorship has become the norm.
If a person’s beliefs are consistent with the new orthodoxy, then he and his activities are beyond suspicion. Everyone else lives in fear of a digital end. Online poison is justified as long as it is aimed at the right goals. Articles that would have been easily published just two years ago would now cause the editor or writer serious trouble if not dismissal”, – s”, – Weiss writes.
The liberal media will undoubtedly call the NYT editor’s resignation “right-wing conspiracy”, and Weiss will be blamed for some compromising evidence, but this is a serious blow to the left media party. A letter from the editor confirmed the worst assumptions about the situation in the liberal editorial offices.
Dmitry Drobnitsky