Has The New York Times decided to use terrorists as editors?
According to the Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan, it was the threat of violence that prevented the paper from publishing the latest Charlie Hebdo cover, the one that carried a picture of the Prophet Muhammad crying over the terrorist attack.
Some of the earlier Hebdo cartoons were indeed crude and offensive, and one could make the case that printing them served no “news” purpose. Yet the “survivors” issue, which was produced within a week by the small surviving staff, has now sold millions of copies worldwide. Some countries have banned it and attempted to find and destroy all copies.
That makes it news. They cannot hide behind the view that this cover serves no purpose other than to offend and ridicule.
Many other news organizations have published it.
But not the Times.
Sullivan writes:
Mr. Baquet (Executive Editor of the Times) made a tough call, which included safety concerns for Times staff, especially those in international posts. (Those concerns are far from frivolous; just days ago, a German newspaper’s office was firebombed after it published the cartoons following the attack, and now new concerns have arisen about reprisals.)
Fair point. After the massacre in Paris, media organizations must think about the safety of their employees. But that should mean devising ways to protect their employees. Simply refusing to treat some news like others because of the threat of violence, undermines their credibility.
Is the Times saying that they will simply refrain from printing news if someone makes a threat? Where is the line drawn? Is this the reason that the Times has a consistent history of anti-Israel bias? Because to show balance might mean upsetting the other side who might resort to violence?
The Times is one of the most influential news organizations in the world. But now it is clear that they cannot be trusted to present the news fairly and objectively because they have decided to let terrorists dictate what goes on their pages.
And they are not the only ones. Look how scared this anchor for Sky News gets when a surviving staff member of Charlie Hebdo attempts to show the cover while being interviewed. She is terrified of offending viewers. I can’t find any example of her panicking over a segment that might offend viewers who support Israel.
When media outlets use terrorists as editors, you can’t trust what they say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSxum5_G_tA
Featured image: CC BY Moses Mehraban, Program Executive Office Soldier and CC BY-SA HonestReporting.com
