When The New York Times lost its way

Are we truly so precious?” Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times, asked me one Wednesday evening in June 2020. I was the editorial-page editor of the Times, and we had just published an op-ed by Tom Cotton, a senator from Arkansas, that was outraging many members of the Times staff. America’s conscience had been shocked days before by images of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of a black man, George Floyd, until he died. It was a frenzied time in America, assaulted by covid-19, scalded by police barbarism. Throughout the country protesters were on the march. Substantive reform of the police, so long delayed, suddenly seemed like a real possibility, but so did violence and political backlash. In some cities rioting and looting had broken out.

It was the kind of crisis in which journalism could fulfil its highest ambitions of helping readers understand the world, in order to fix it, and in the Times’s Opinion section, which I oversaw, we were pursuing our role of presenting debate from all sides. 

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New York Times Publisher AG Sulzberger responds to an essay by former opinion page editor James Bennet

James Bennet and I have always agreed on the importance of independent journalism, the challenges it faces in today’s more polarized world, and the mission of The Times to pursue independence even when the path of less resistance might be to give into partisan passions.

But I could not disagree more strongly with the false narrative he has constructed about The Times.

Our commitment to independence is evident in our report every day. Whether in the wars in Europe and in the Middle East, the turmoil on college campuses, or the political mood of the country on the eve of another election year, our 2,000 journalists are breaking stories, holding the powerful to account, and seeking to shed light rather than heat on the most divisive issues of our time, regardless of whom our coverage might upset.

Our readers now also have the benefit of an Opinion report that has grown in size and ambition since 2020 and has only expanded upon its commitment to exploring a wide range of viewpoints. Today we have a far more diverse mix of opinions, including more conservative and heterodox voices, than ever before.

James was a valued partner, but where I parted ways with him is on how to deliver on these values. Principles alone are not enough. Execution matters. Leadership matters.