29 Jan 2021 More New York Times Bias Exposed: Is Anyone Surprised Though?

As time rolls by, the obvious bias of the mainstream media becomes more and more apparent. “Fake news” has become common jargon when discussing the hypocrisy of organizations like the New York Times.

Those who highlight this bias and the double standard of the Times organization are likely to be ridiculed for their bluntness and lack of political correctness. Yet, in a recent interview with Megyn Kelly, a former NYT op-ed writer pulled the curtain back on the publication’s left-wing culture.

Bari Weiss left the New York Times in July 2020 after becoming deeply disturbed by the company’s practice of viewpoint discrimination against conservative employees. Weiss told Kelly that the New York Times is “becoming a place where people are fired for running” stories that counter the organization’s liberal agenda. As we are seeing in all facets of business, wokeism is flooding into management and decision-making, and this is just another example of that reality.

Highlighting the trend of leftism at the New York Times and other institutions in recent years, Weiss explained, “I think the thing to emphasize for people, what I like to say to people is like, The New York Times is not The New York Times,” Weiss told Kelly. “Harvard is not Harvard. Go down the list. Harvard still has the same slogan and same crest. The New York Times still has the font and the claim to be the paper of record, but what it actually is has changed.”

Weiss asked readers to see through the assertion that the NYT’s is “mainstream” or “normal,” when in actuality it has become increasingly left-wing. Weiss also emphasized that while people are fired for running conservative pieces at the NYT, “pieces that are out-and-out propaganda from the Chinese Communist Party are acceptable.”

Back in June, Weiss tweeted about the ideological divide between the young wokeists employees and the older, traditional liberals at the New York Times. In describing the work dynamic and “civil war” between the two, Weiss declared that the conflict had arisen from a lack of a shared set of principles.

The traditional liberals, although leaning ideologically left, still believe in civil libertarianism and the publication of differing ideas. In contrast, the new generation of workers demands publications that appeal to their criteria of emotional safety, or “safetyism,” a term which Weiss describes thus:

“The right of the people to feel emotionally and psychologically safe trumps what were previously considered core liberal values, like free speech.”

The term “safetyism” is being used by the woke to help justify their undermining of conservative publications and ideas. They love to act as the moral compass of society, as if they have a godly sense of what should be deemed as safe or threatening.

However, the appeal to this notion undermines liberties. Freedom isn’t always safe, especially to feelings, but freedom is essential. Freedom hurts sometimes, but it is necessary for a thriving society – and, in the long run, it hurts a lot less than the loss of freedom. When we begin to give in to the view that disagreements are “unsafe” and can therefore be banned, the result is a never-ending whirlwind of woke policy and a loss of liberty for all on the other side of the aisle.

The young employees who preach “safetyism” are actually acting contradictory to this idea, says Weiss. She told Megyn Kelly, “It was strange, because this is the kind of environment where inclusion and diversity are the watchwords and bullying is wrong. But bullying the right people, it’s not just okay there, it’s kind of like a virtue.”

This is a perfect example of why propositions for “safety” are counterproductive and only lead to satisfying one like-minded group of individuals. It highlights how vitally important it is to remain true to our freedoms, especially free speech, which at times may lead to feeling uncomfortable, because turning against them for “safety” is a slippery slope. Once people believe they can be handed “safety” through eliminating someone else’s freedoms, this trend will never end. There will always be the next individual who claims something is threatening and that they deserve a remedy to stop the threat.

The infiltration of bias and wokeism at the NYT is a small example of the overall trend in corporate America. Bari Weiss should be applauded for pointing out the bias and hypocrisy within the NYT’s walls. This wokeism must be stopped in its tracks before it is too late.