The New York Times Can't Tell the Truth About Its Trans Coverage
WHEN DOES DISCOURSE become abuse? On Wednesday, after the New York Times had received an open letter signed by more than a hundred journalists protesting its coverage of trans care, the apocalyptic-minded reactionary blogger Andrew Sullivan tweeted:
Journalistic mobs openly, publicly bullying named, fellow journalists. Now imagine the bullying they perpetrate *within* these institutions. They are, quite simply, anathema to a free society and a free press.
"Anathema to a free society" was, on the face of it, a strange way to describe the release of a public petition. Especially coming from someone who has made as much noise about free debate and free expression as Sullivan has, when it suits his purposes.
But Sullivan was not alone in believing some dreadful thing had been done. Yesterday, in a memo to Times staff, executive editor Joe Kahn and opinion editor Kathleen Kingsbury described the message as an "attack," "attacks," or "attacking" six times in the span of seven paragraphs.
Or, rather, Kahn and Kingsbury described some message that way.
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