Former Editor Claims NYTimes Has 'Abandoned' Journalism Ethics

The New York Times has “abandoned” traditional journalism ethics in order to pursue a “woke” agenda, according to a former Times editor who spent 28 years working for the paper.

“For me, the issue is journalistic integrity. Ideology and journalism do not mix because ideology wants an outcome and good journalism does not,” wrote ex-Times editor Tom Kuntz, who now works for Real Clear Investigations, in a Wednesday column. “Ideology dictates a blatant double standard for coverage of sexual misconduct charges — think of what Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh endured in his confirmation hearings and the Times‘s deferential treatment of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.”

Tom Kuntz

Kuntz said the paper’s “1619 Project,” which sought to trace the history of American slavery to 1619, had “gravely distort[ed] the history and legacy of slavery in America,” and that the paper had failed to answer questions about significant shortcomings in its impeachment coverage.

“Having worked as an editor at the Times for 28 years before leaving (on good terms) in early 2016, I know that the flaws in that reporting are not an outlier. They flow, instead, from an evolving culture that abandoned the let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may ethic of traditional journalism to one that embraces partisan and results-oriented agendas,” Kuntz wrote.

The paper’s reluctance to call out left-leaning sources as “liars” contrasts with its treatment of Trump. The Times in 2016 instituted a policy to begin labeling what it viewed as Trump’s lies, a decision that former Executive Editor Jill Abramson attributed to the rise of “wokeness” in the newsroom: “The more ‘woke’ staff thought that urgent times called for urgent measures.”