NY Times Says Tom Cotton ‘Send in the Troops’ Op-Ed ‘Did Not Meet Our Standards,’ Promises Reform
Paper blames “rushed editorial process” and promises more fact-checking and fewer new op-eds
Lindsey Ellefson | June 4, 2020 @ 3:51 PM
Last Updated: June 4, 2020 @ 4:04 PM
New York City Police officers stand outside the office of the The New York Times, October 25, 2018 in New York City. Security is being ramped up in New York City after explosive devices were sent to top Democratic politicians and to CNN headquarters. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The New York Times responded Thursday evening to the backlash against its publication of an op-ed by GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, saying through a spokesperson that the piece went through a “rushed editorial process” that will now be examined.
“We’ve examined the piece and the process leading up to its publication. This review made clear that a rushed editorial process led to the publication of an Op-Ed that did not meet our standards. As a result, we’re planning to examine both short term and long term changes, to include expanding our fact checking operation and reducing the number of Op-Eds we publish,” said the statement, which was posted to Twitter by New York Times media reporter Marc Tracy.
Calling it “a clear threat to the health and safety of journalists we represent” Wednesday, the New York Times guild harshly criticized the paper’s decision to publish the opinion piece, which urged the U.S. military to crush the George Floyd protests.
The piece by the right-wing Republican senator is titled “Send in the Troops” and calls for an “overwhelming show of force” to be deployed against protesters, among other violent rhetoric. Critics also noted that it contains falsehoods that the paper’s own reporting has already debunked.
Staffers, too, protested the publication — very publicly.
Multiple New York Times staff wrote on social media Wednesday, “Running this puts Black @nytimes staff in danger” alongside a screenshot of the piece.
9 Times New York Times Editorial Made Everyone Freak Out
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Quinn "Been Friends with Various Neo-Nazis" Norton
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Bari Weiss Attacks Aziz Ansari Accuser: 'I'll Get Crushed for This'
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Bari Weiss Quotes Hamilton: 'Immigrants: We Get the Job Done"
Anti-Weiss Internet mobs were set ablaze after she tweeted out "Immigrants: we get the job done," in response to Olympian Mirai Nagasu's triple axel. Nagasu was born in California to immigrant parents and Twitter furiously dragged her for not paying sufficient deference to the decision.
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James Bennet Diversifies the Times Opinion Pages
Editorial Page Editor James Bennet has said his mission is to broaden editorial diversity on the Times newsroom. The initiative has often been rocky and the paper has been beset by online criticism of hiring choices, and targeted leaks by Times employees unhappy with his changes.
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David Brooks Sandwich-Shames Less Educated Friend
Perhaps most egregious of all in the mind of Internet warriors was Brooks' confession in a July, 2017 column that he once took a friend "with only a high school degree" into a gourmet sandwich shop but decided to pull a quick switch for Mexican food after, so he said, she appeared overwhelmed by words like Soppressata and Capicollo.
Creative Commons
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Most of the recent fire and fury comes from the paper’s editorial pages
Bari Weiss: We're All Fascists Now
The New York Times opinion editor set the Internet ablaze after going after college students who she said were trying to shut down free speech. Critics pointed to Weiss mistakenly linking two fake ANTIFA Twitter accounts
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