The NYT has a three-part problem:
The first is the revenue it derives from its digital readers.
The second is who NYT readers are.
The third, as @bariweiss described, derives from the changing definition younger journalists have for what journalism is supposed to be.
The first is the revenue it derives from its digital readers.
The second is who NYT readers are.
The third, as @bariweiss described, derives from the changing definition younger journalists have for what journalism is supposed to be.
In '17, Times editor @JillAbramson wrote, "Every time I hear [Trump] tweet about the 'failing @nytimes' or use the shopworn sobriquet 'fake news,' I also hear the ka-ching of the so-called 'Trump bump'. She's admitting Trump's attacks on the press are driving readers to the NYT
Who are these readers?
Dean Baquet, the Time's top editor, said in August, 2019, "What I’m saying is that our readers and some of our staff cheer us when we take on Donald Trump, but they jeer at us when we take on Joe Biden…
Dean Baquet, the Time's top editor, said in August, 2019, "What I’m saying is that our readers and some of our staff cheer us when we take on Donald Trump, but they jeer at us when we take on Joe Biden…
And our job is to…try to understand the forces that led to the election of Donald Trump. And that means trying to understand the segment of America that probably does not read us.”
The segment of Americanthat probably does not read us!
He's admitting Trump supporters probably don't read the paper. (The Times should release its marketing surveys of its readers...)
He's admitting Trump supporters probably don't read the paper. (The Times should release its marketing surveys of its readers...)
In the aftermath of column-gate with @TomCottonAR , Slate just reported that the controversy "has netted the Times its highest-ever number of cancellations in a single hour."
So, a significant amount of Times revenue depends on it resisting Trump. Its editor admits its readers probably don't include Trump voters. And then come the journalists who are in revolt over a perfectly reasonable point of view that's actually shared by a majority of Americans.
Their revolt has led to management backing down.
The business model of the Times can't succeed if the paper is neutral or fair. It must be anti-Trump. And when he's gone, anti-GOP.
The business model of the Times can't succeed if the paper is neutral or fair. It must be anti-Trump. And when he's gone, anti-GOP.
The NYT has a serious structural problem. In the wake of what how they've handled Tom Cotton's opinion piece, the paper has succumbed to both fear and favor.
