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SaydiTom

(80 posts)
39. How the New York Times uses weasel words to normalize authoritarianism
Fri Nov 28, 2025, 05:24 PM
Nov 28
https://presswatchers.org/2025/09/how-the-new-york-times-uses-weasel-words-to-normalize-authoritarianism/


https://presswatchers.org/category/new-york-times/



https://prospect.org/2022/08/19/altercation-how-peter-bakers-feelings-become-news/




The sad fact is that there is nothing terribly out of character about the New York Times’s decision to publish a deceptive hit piece about New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, based on hacked data supplied by a noted eugenicist to whom they granted anonymity. The newsroom will go to extreme lengths to achieve its primary missions -- and one of them, most assuredly, is to take cheap shots at the left. You can see it almost daily – just this past week alone in a condescending article about Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s brave defense of democracy, and a celebratory story about Trump’s achievements that likened dissenting views to "asterisks" on his legacy.

And you can trace it back to the very top: to editor Joe Kahn and his boss, publisher A.G. Sulzberger. As I’ve exhaustively chronicled in my coverage of the New York Times, the newsroom is constantly under pressure from its leaders to prove that it is not taking sides in politics -- or democracy, for that matter. And because printing the truth is seen as punching right, that requires expending a lot of effort to punch left. Punching left becomes the holy grail. https://criticalread.substack.com/p/the-sad-sad-state-of-the-new-york



Parker Molloy, in her newsletter, points out:
When Times columnist Jamelle Bouie had the temerity to post "i think you should tell readers if your source is a nazi," he was apparently forced to delete it for violating the paper's social media guidelines. Think about that for a moment. The Times will protect the anonymity of a white supremacist, but will silence their own Black columnist for accurately identifying him.




Recommendations

1 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

GOOD!! jaymac Nov 27 #1
Too late for me popsdenver Nov 27 #19
I'm one of them Roy Rolling Nov 28 #25
We killed our subscriptions years ago as well Ranting Randy Nov 28 #30
We canceled. There is only so much Maggie Haberman, MAGA fan girl, that one can read without vomiting. NNadir Nov 28 #34
..And that "Thing" passes as the United States President? chouchou Nov 27 #2
childish and petty. he has change since his (....) pin up companion started wearing wide brim hats lol nt msongs Nov 27 #3
What are you saying here, sounds like an interesting idea. Irish_Dem Nov 28 #26
so he cant get at her in public msongs Nov 28 #35
Yes this is one possibility. Irish_Dem Nov 28 #36
better late than never, I guess. nt spooky3 Nov 27 #4
IT definitely has no room to call anyone "ugly". He is the standard-bearer for "ugly inside and LoisB Nov 27 #5
Generalissimo Poopy Pants. paleotn Nov 27 #7
Or "Piggy". Cha Nov 27 #11
NYT finding a backbone perhaps? Hope so. paleotn Nov 27 #6
The only backbone any of these corporations find is when it hits THEIR cash flow Bengus81 Nov 28 #38
Times is late to the game. WOLFMAN87 Nov 27 #8
Yeah, I know.. But I'll take what I can get for Truth Telling.. better Cha Nov 27 #10
Late to the game, as usual. (nt) Paladin Nov 27 #14
Late to the game and not acknowledging their own role in his rise JHB Nov 27 #16
The two-faced, chickenshit legacy of a once-great newspaper. Paladin Nov 28 #27
lol.. Oh Fuck OFF POS Traitor, ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. Cha Nov 27 #9
It's always projection with his stupid juvenile tantrums. Justice matters. Nov 27 #12
Trump gets the last word in. (Not his LAST words) usonian Nov 27 #13
Great to see the Times strike back at the cheap tactics of Trump ificandream Nov 27 #15
Hey, nyt, YOU helped create and support this orange vulgarian. YOU niyad Nov 27 #17
Amen. LoisB Nov 27 #22
the NYT is in this position because they have let ALL of his prior shit pass without any real rebuke SaydiTom Nov 27 #18
No, they didn't. ificandream Nov 28 #32
How the New York Times uses weasel words to normalize authoritarianism SaydiTom Nov 28 #39
But were they news stories or opinion pieces? ificandream Nov 28 #40
The problem is the Times cited facts. Gimpyknee Nov 27 #20
couldn't care less PSPS Nov 28 #23
Why doesn't he just fucking die already? Orrex Nov 27 #21
Some media are looking to the future Aussie105 Nov 28 #24
He is getting worse each day. Katinfl Nov 28 #33
Every once in awhile, NYT tells the absolute truth. The rest of the time, not so much. lark Nov 28 #28
They call that "hitting back"? mdbl Nov 28 #29
There is a clear pattern-trump cannot deal with questions from female reporters LetMyPeopleVote Nov 28 #31
And yet Quanto Magnus Nov 28 #37
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