Regarding the New York Times, Matt Taibbi wrote recently:
With censorship soaring and real reporting all but taboo, the major dailies have just one important function left: being a political signaling system.
Listen to a narration of the entire condemnatory essay here.
I actually love the New York Times. Dating back to my youth, I have adored skillful and comprehensive news reporting with respect for the intelligence of the reader. Along with NPR and PBS, the Times rested on a pedestal as unassailable sources of objective journalism dedicated to craft over agenda. Sure, I always understood those reporters voted differently than I did—but we were bound by a search for truth. The Times supplied me with all the news fit to print, not exactly without bias (I always had to lean into the bias to maintain my balance), but a trustworthy set of facts carefully collected via rigorous standards agreed upon by all parties.
But, as Taibbi implies, the world changed dramatically. As so many astute observers have already noticed, a new business model drives all profitable news organizations today. Rather than offer a carefully curated product to a broad readership, survival in the current market requires a dedicated niche audience seeking affirmation. Hard to name a journalistic enterprise these days willing to offend its base by reporting inconvenient facts. The Times is merely catering to the preferences of its subscribers. Honestly, we are all increasingly addicted to messages that reaffirm our prior assumptions. So, perhaps, unconsciously, reporters and editors and readers alike take shortcuts. Outrageous facts and unconnected anecdotes ring true because they confirm what we already believe. We are in a weird place.
Why do I still love the Gray Lady? Old habits die hard. The Times remains the most outstanding journalistic organization in the world with the best resources and most talented personnel in the business. The Times continues to set the agenda for the news world. In the old days you could predict the stories on the CBS Evening News by reading the Times in the morning. The more things change the more they stay the same.
An Aside. Another reason to read the Times: if you relish sharpening your ideas against the most acute thinkers on the other side, they are still in the Times. In the media environment described above, the lifeline for discernment and the antidote to groupthink is varied and disparate sources of information. Conservatives cannot afford to ignore the Times.
As an addendum to Taibbi, the Times not only signals what to believe (e.g., when to jump off the Biden train), but the Times will also report the truth as a last resort. After they have tried their best to reflect and shape the party line, perhaps as part of an old reflex from their halcyon days, they will get on the record with the straight scoop just before the narrative collapses completely.
Examples: Breonna Taylor, the Hunter Biden laptop, COVID at various junctures, Kyle Rittenhouse, the facts about abortion and state laws, and many more.
That is, when the mainstream storyline finally unravels, when they are faced with demonstrable error, they will break ranks and cough up the truth to preserve their brand. “Oh yeah, we printed that, what’s your point?”
In tribute to the cult of objectivity, and under a specific set of circumstances, the Times will confirm what we already knew (but, again, for some reason some of us need to hear it from the Times). They will write up the story, brazenly act like they never claimed the opposite, and drop the subject forever.
Last Week from the New York Times podcast, the Daily:
A series of blockbuster hearings from the Jan. 6 committee has put growing pressure on Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to bring criminal charges against former President Donald J. Trump over the efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Before today’s committee hearing, we speak with Andrew D. Goldstein, one of the prosecutors who led the last major investigation into Mr. Trump, about why winning a case against the former president is such a challenge.
And there it is. “You wanted it to happen. It really should happen. But it's not going to happen. The Truth. There is no legal case against Donald Trump…and here’s why.”
Forty minutes (listen to it at 2x speed and fast forward through the commercials and you are done in 15) .
“It is not what we wanted to report, but this is the way this thing is going to go down, and we have to get on the record before we look like the rest of those fools.”
Sure, I could have gotten the same thing from Andy McCarthy at NRO months (years) ago–and you really should be reading and/or listening to Andy McCarthy (the best at what he does). But you should also be listening to the Daily because they will signal when the jig is up for a talking point that is no longer tenable. As I indicated above, it happens fairly often, and, frankly, it is thrilling when it does.
The Old Gray Lady ain’t what she used to be—but she is not quite dog food either.