So much of what the Times did wrong is about the fact that plenty of reporters were afraid to come out during this period of like very serious institutional homophobia. And it just feels astonishing to me that you could hear people talking about having an identical experience and not either not see the connection or just choose to ignore it. So there does seem to be a strange like, petulant refusal to acknowledge where this is inevitably going to lead. It's one more reckoning with past coverage that doesn't actually need to be that way.
In this News Brief, we break down the recent controversy over the open letter sent by 1200+ NYT contributors pushing back on The Times' salacious coverage of "trans issues," and how the Paper of Record's response has proved to be thin skinned, sanctimonious, and hypocritical.
With guests Eric Thurm and Julia Carmel.