Welcome Self-Awareness from the New York Times

By Luther Ray Abel

Sunday, May 05, 2024

 

Semafor published an insightful interview from the deck of the Titanic. It’s an interview worth reading for its content as well as the (in my view) inescapable air of the Gray Lady’s terminal illness and the burst of apologetic energy that is released before one slumps into the gurney. Joe Kahn, executive editor of the Times, is the subject of the interview. Ben Smith, Semafor‘s editor in chief, is the questioner. The Bari Weiss and James Bennett episodes are visited and given official review — fascinating damnation through faint praise. It’s an interview worth our time as we consider legacy media’s financial struggles, the need for a deep editorial roster to best inform the public, and the threat of ideological capture.

 

From Semafor:

 

Joe: I don’t think that this generation of college grads has been fully prepared for what we are asking our people to do, which is to commit themselves to the idea of independent journalism.

 

Ben: Does that make you more likely to hire kids from state schools, outside that elite group, or kids who didn’t go to college?

 

Joe: I’d be open to it. And I’m open to graduates from whatever school who understand what they need to commit to being in an independent news environment. But I don’t think we can assume that they’ve been trained for that, if they’ve been trained for safe spaces. The newsroom is not a safe space. It’s a space where you’re being exposed to lots of journalism, some of which you are not going to like.

 

Don’t you feel like there was a generation of students who came out of school saying you should only work at places that align completely with your values?

 

Ben: Don’t you think we all sort of said that to them?

 

Joe: I don’t think we said it explicitly. I think there was a period [where] we implied it. And I think that the early days of Trump in particular, were, “join us for the mission.”

 

Ben: Was it a mistake to say that — even to think it?

 

Joe: I think it went too far. It was overly simplistic. And I think the big push that you’re seeing us make and reestablish our norms and emphasize independent journalism and build a more resilient culture comes out of some of the excesses of that period.

 

You can read the rest here.

 

For the sake of public information, I hope Joe Kahn can save the ship. But given the Times‘ inaction regarding its progressive staffers, Kahn appears to be baling out the ship with a milk jug — heroic effort with little to no effect.