New York Times editor squirms on the hot seat over Tom Cotton op-ed

With its editorial staff in open revolt, The New York Times backtracked on its support of a controversial op-ed from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) that called for troops to be introduced to squash Americans protesting police brutality and the murder of George Floyd.

After first defending its decision to publish the editorial, The Times is now saying that it undertook a “review” following scathing blowback from its own ranks. It has now determined that the op-ed didn’t meet its standards. In fact, the paper concedes the inflammatory article was published without the editorial page editor James Bennet having read it.

“We’ve examined the piece and the process leading up to its publication,” Eileen Murphy, a Times spokeswoman, said in a statement. “This review made clear that a rushed editorial process led to the publication of an Op-Ed that did not meet our standards. As a result, we’re planning to examine both short-term and long-term changes, to include expanding our fact-checking operation and reducing the number of Op-Eds we publish.”

The Times’ Publisher A.G. Sulzberger has also vowed to change the process as a result, according to a report in The Times.

“Given that this is not the first lapse, the Opinion department will also be taking several initial steps to reduce the likelihood of something like this happening again,” Sulzberger reportedly said in a Slack message to staffers.

Earlier in the day, Bennet himself defended the op-ed’s publication while conceding it might have been a mistake.

“It would undermine the integrity and independence of The New York Times if we only published views that editors like me agreed with, and it would betray what I think of as our fundamental purpose — not to tell you what to think, but to help you think for yourself.”

The NewsGuild, the union that represents over 1,200 rank-and-file journalists at The Times, countered that publishing the piece promoted hate and endangered the papers’ own reporters in the field. More than 800 staff members signed a letter protesting its publication, The Times has reported.

Bennet, in turn, admitted he believed the union had a point, concluding, “I know that my own view may be wrong.”