NYT Staffers Slam Paper For Publishing Senator's 'Send In The Troops' Op-Ed
UPDATE: 6:39 p.m. June 4 — A spokesperson for the New York Times said that the paper’s opinion department rushed through the editorial process of publishing Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) controversial essay, according to an internal review.
As a result of the review, the paper will reduce the number of opinion articles it publishes.
Marc Tracy, the paper’s media reporter, posted the Times’ response to the backlash on Twitter.
“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,” the unattributed statement read.
The newspaper’s leadership plans to “examine both short term and long term changes” to its editorial process “to include expanding our fact checking operation and reducing the number of Op-Eds we publish.”
NEW: Times spokeswoman sends mea culpa pic.twitter.com/phBVjA21AT
— marc tracy (@marcatracy) June 4, 2020
Previously:
New York Times staff members banded together and slammed the newspaper for publishing an essay by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) that calls on the president to deploy troops to the racial justice protests happening around the country.
More than a dozen former and current Times staffers said that the paper’s decision to give Cotton a platform to promote using the military to shut down protests puts Black Americans’ lives at risk.
For nearly a week, anti-racist protesters across the U.S. have marched on the streets to protest the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man and father of three in Minneapolis, and the alarming cases of police brutality against Black people across the country.
Police officers have clash with demonstrators as protests have turned violent and looting and vandalism has occurred, but also even when protesters have appeared to have been marching peacefully.
Many staffers tweeted a screenshot of Cotton’s op-ed with a phrase similar to this: “Running this puts all black people in danger, including @nytimes staff members.”
Running this puts all black people in danger, including @nytimes staff members. pic.twitter.com/BZcbwqSfCI
— Jen Parker (@JenParker393) June 3, 2020
just to be crystal clear:
Running this puts Black @nytimes staff in danger. pic.twitter.com/2mZfnQegs7— rat king (@MikeIsaac) June 4, 2020
In his op-ed, Cotton urged the federal government to use the Insurrection Act to deploy U.S. military personnel at protests to shut them down.
Cotton argued that using military force to address the protests wouldn’t “amount to ‘martial law’ or the end of democracy.”
He called for an “overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers.”
Cotton also pointed out several instances of violence that targeted police officers — including officers being shot in St. Louis and Las Vegas — but he didn’t mention instances of police using unnecessary force against protesters, including police driving cars into marchers.
Without proof, Cotton accused anti-fascist activists, which he referred to as a “cadre of left-wing radicals,” of causing the violence at the protests and using the marches “for their own anarchic purposes.”
A Times report published Monday showed that the theory that the so-called antifa led rioting was a part of protest misinformation, noting that it was “the biggest piece of protest misinformation tracked” by research company Zignal Labs.
Reporters for the Times called out their own paper for publishing the senator’s essay despite the false claims within it.
“White supremacy is not an opinion,” television critic Margaret Lyons tweeted.
Technology reporter Davey Alva, who covers online disinformation for the paper, flagged Cotton’s antifa claim and noted: “Our own newspaper has reported that this is misinformation.”
HuffPost reached out to the Times for further comment.
Our own newspaper has reported that this is misinformation https://t.co/G2C3FIZPui pic.twitter.com/Xqc2twTKXm
— Davey Alba (@daveyalba) June 3, 2020
Astead Herndon, a Times national political reporter, criticized the paper for allowing Cotton to make unproven claims without fact-checking him.
“Supporting my colleagues, and particularly the black ones,” Herndon tweeted. “If electeds want to make provocative arguments let them withstand the questions and context of a news story, not unvarnished and unchecked.”
Nikole Hannah-Jones, a New York Times Magazine correspondent, said she was “deeply ashamed” of the paper as both a Black woman and a journalist.
Amy Qin, a China correspondent, said she was horrified to see Cotton’s headline, “Send in the Troops,” on June 4, the anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square protest for democracy in 1989.
During that protest, China deployed the military to quell the student-led protests, and it is estimated that thousands of people were killed .
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Supporting my colleagues, and particularly the black ones. if electeds want to make provocative arguments let them withstand the questions and context of a news story, not unvarnished and unchecked https://t.co/MwiD8BenzO
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) June 4, 2020
Surreal and horrifying to wake up on the morning of June 4 - the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown - to this headline. pic.twitter.com/vNtiFz3vqq
— Amy Qin (@amyyqin) June 4, 2020
I’ll probably get in trouble for this, but to not say something would be immoral. As a black woman, as a journalist, as an American, I am deeply ashamed that we ran this. https://t.co/lU1KmhH2zH
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) June 4, 2020
Margaret Sullivan, a former public editor for the Times, said she wouldn’t have published Cotton’s essay because “Black people already feel under siege & in danger.”
On Twitter, Sullivan listed four more reasons Cotton’s op-ed was unfit for publication.
Number three on her list: “US is a tinderbox now.”
I would not have published that piece, for a multitude of reasons. About fifth on the list is that ridiculous line about ‘radical chic’ https://t.co/Fet1xU6TEk
— Margaret Sullivan (@Sulliview) June 3, 2020
1. Black people already feel under siege & in danger
2. There are *limits* to what's acceptable discourse for this peerlessly influential & defining space. This is outside the limits, IMO.
3. US is a tinderbox now
4. He can get his views out (and rev his 2024 campaign) elsewhere.— Margaret Sullivan (@Sulliview) June 4, 2020
The NewsGuild of New York, which represents the Times’ union, issued a statement denouncing the paper’s decision to run Cotton’s op-ed, saying that the senator’s message “undermines the journalistic work of our members, puts our Black staff members in danger, promotes hate, and is likely to encourage further violence.”
“Cotton’s Op-Ed pours gasoline on the fire,” the union wrote. “Media organizations have a responsibility to hold power to account, not amplify voices of power without context and caution.”
In response to the backlash, James Bennet, the head of the Times opinions department, defended the op-ed’s publication by highlighting the section’s previous essays by people who support the protests and provide more context on the systematic racism in America.
“Times Opinion owes it to our readers to show them counter-arguments, particularly those made by people in a position to set policy,” Bennet said.
“We understand that many readers find Senator Cotton’s argument painful, even dangerous. We believe that is one reason it requires public scrutiny and debate.”
Jazmine Hughes, an editor of the New York Times magazine, said she recognized that the paper’s opinion department has to publish diverse opinions but stated, “Cotton’s op-ed, however, clearly crosses a line.”
The Guild statement – which I helped draft with many, many others – fully recognizes that the op-ed desk has a responsibility to publish a diverse array of opinions, many of which people may find disagreeable! Cotton's op-ed, however, clearly crosses a line. https://t.co/D1vL0gX4in
— Jazmine Hughes (@jazzedloon) June 4, 2020
Running this puts Black @nytimes staff in danger. pic.twitter.com/LooAax8SCz
— Johanna Barr (@johannabarr) June 3, 2020
An estimated 5,000 National Guard troops have already been deployed to respond to protests in 15 states and Washington, D.C.
There are also 2,000 troops prepared to go if reinforcements are needed, a spokesperson for the National Guard told Military Times.
Cotton first suggested using the military to face off with “Antifa terrorists” earlier this week.
“If local law enforcement is overwhelmed and needs backup, let’s see how tough these Antifa terrorists are when they’re facing off with the 101st Airborne Division. We need to have zero tolerance for this destruction,” Cotton tweeted.
“If necessary, the 10th Mountain, 82nd Airborne, 1st Cav, 3rd Infantry —whatever it takes to restore order. No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters.”
President George H.W. Bush invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807 during the 1992 uprising in Los Angeles after the acquittals of four white police officers who were filmed brutally beating Black motorist Rodney King.
Let it be known I write for the @nytimes and I thoroughly disagree with Tom Cotton's atrocious op-ed. So do many editors and fellow writers.
— Wajahat "Social Distance Yourself" Ali (@WajahatAli) June 3, 2020
I stand in solidarity with my black colleagues, who are dealing with enough right now. https://t.co/iuYY6pb06t
— Somini Sengupta🥭 (@SominiSengupta) June 4, 2020
I loved working at @nytopinion and respect & admire so many of my former colleagues who still work there. But publishing this piece, at this moment - with the most unstable/despotic president in history in command of our troops - is irresponsible & dangerous. Retract the essay. pic.twitter.com/kPAgWERUZB
— Lydia Dallett (@Ldallett) June 4, 2020
Running this puts Black @nytimes staff in danger. pic.twitter.com/Tjaffa2tW5
— Pierre-Antoine Louis (@DebonairPierre) June 4, 2020
Running this puts all black people in danger, including @nytimes staff members. pic.twitter.com/BZcbwqSfCI
— Jen Parker (@JenParker393) June 3, 2020
Running this puts Black @nytimes staff in danger. pic.twitter.com/kb6lsZ4FSy
— Simone Landon (@simonelandon) June 4, 2020
Related...
Tom Cotton Says Trump Should Deploy U.S. Military To Contain Protests
Obama Offers Further Support Of Anti-Racism Protests: 'I'm Proud Of You Guys'
'Appalled' Jim Mattis Says Trump Has Divided The Nation
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.