Discourse is on death’s door at one of the largest newspapers in the nation.
On June 3, The New York Times ousted its opinion editor following the publication of a Republican lawmaker’s op-ed.
Sen. Tom Cotton’s piece, titled “Send in the Troops,” argued for an “overwhelming show of force” to deal with violent riots across the nation. This piece caused an internal uproar, resulting in the resignation of Editorial Page Editor James Bennet, a brouhaha amounting to an institutional capture by totalitarian ideologues.
As NYT writer and editor Bari Weiss noted, there’s a conflict within many institutions between moderate “civil libertarian” types and young, far-left radicals. The former values open discourse, a market of ideas and true ideological diversity, whereas the latter aims to shrink the Overton Window and excise “problematic” opinions.
While the motto of The New York Times is “All the news that’s fit to print,” Ms. Weiss astutely recognizes the difference between these two camps: “One group emphasizes the word ‘all.’ The other, the word ‘fit.’”
To the far-left camp, what strays from the political prescriptions of so-called “social justice” is unfit. To argue for a military response to riots — an opinion held by a majority of Americans, mind you — is unacceptable and problematic. It’s better, apparently, for no one to know the views of a sitting U.S. senator. The publication of bad ideas (and I do think Mr. Cotton’s idea is a bad one) amount to their promulgation. Apparently, we should only publish and study the morally “correct” political opinions.
And that’s precisely what the social justice types are aiming at: The active suppression of countervailing opinion, inconvenient facts and dissent.
Shaun Cammack – The Washington Times – June 11, 2020.
