NY Times Public Editor Acknowledges Trump Fury

Liz Spayd

The public editor for The New York Times reported on Sunday that complaints to the paper are at their highest since 2001 following the election of Donald Trump.

According to The Hill, Public Editor Liz Spayd described the comments and dissatisfaction with the news organization’s coverage of the 2016 election as “searing.”

“The number of complaints coming into the public editor's office is five times the normal level, and the pace has only just recently tapered off,” writes public editor Liz Spayd. “My colleague Thomas Feyer, who oversees the letters to the editor, says the influx from readers is one of the largest since Sept. 11.”

The complaints include charges that the Times was biased against Trump during the general election, and that it favored Democrat Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary.

Readers complaint that “The Upshot” column forecasting the race was hopelessly wrong; it had said Clinton had an 80 percent or better chance of winning the election.

Letters and comments to the public editor also registered unhappiness with the coverage of Trump supporters, arguing they were stereotyped and misunderstood. And the public editor said many complained that The Times is not even aware of the “liberal tint” it applies to its coverage.

The Times reported last week that it added 41,000 print and digital subscriptions since Trump's victory on November 8.  It marks the most subscribers the paper has added in one week since it digital subscriptions began being offered in 2011.