The New York Times End of Article
Onion headline: It Is Journalism’s Sacred Duty To Endanger The Lives Of As Many Trans People As Possible from satirical article published February 17, 2023

The New York Times

327 words published on Jan 18, 2025

I sent the following email to my parents because I know they read The New York Times regularly and while it’s not Fox News, I just wanted to reassure myself that they aren’t absorbing the editorial content there. (They both replied that they’re not.)

Here’s my letter:

Hi Parents!

I’ve come to explain why I yuck one of your yums, The New York Times. My regular flippant disparagement without much of an explanation may be unfair, so here’s my explanation.

The New York Times has:

  1. Platformed and Humanized a Neo-nazi (2017)
  2. Published inaccurate claims downplaying climate change (2019)
  3. Published Tom Cotton calling for the military to attack BLM protesters (2020)
  4. Irresponsible reporting about the Israel-Palestine occupation and genocide (2024)
  5. Repeatedly produces anti-trans content, despite internal resistance (2024)

#1 is when I canceled my subscription. #5 is why it worries me personally when my loved ones read it.

They and several other publications even inspired this Onion article:

Onion headline: It Is Journalism’s Sacred Duty To Endanger The Lives Of As Many Trans People As Possible from satirical article published February 17, 2023

I’m not telling you what to read.

You can continue as you already do. I’ve said my piece. But in case you’d like some alternatives…

For News:

For editorial content, I think we each have to pick our own influencers. I’d be skeptical of any claim that NYT is progressive, and seek that point of view to the left of them. I prefer to follow individual reporters and writers who don’t have to go through the same editorial censorship of a big media company in their own blogs and books.

Specifically for trans issues, I’d like whoever you hear from about us to be an actual trans person. One of my favorites is Alexandra Caraballo. And as always, I volunteer too.

I realize that the Arts & Leisure section is a major part of your enjoyment of the NYT, and I haven’t found a good alternative to that yet. NPR Culture is great, but I suspect you’re already tuned in to that.

Thanks for hearing me out. Love you.