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Book is sixteen years old.
Leadership and culture shift: Under publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the paper explicitly prioritized “enhancing society” and diversity over traditional journalistic neutrality. McGowan contrasts this with earlier editors (like Abe Rosenthal) who insisted reporters check their personal politics at the door.
Obsessions that hurt credibility: Heavy focus on race, class, gender, and identity issues often led to skewed coverage, omissions, or outright errors on topics like immigration, Islamic terrorism, the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan, and cultural flashpoints.
Specific scandals
The Jayson Blair fabrication scandal (2003), which McGowan ties directly to diversity pressures that fast-tracked an unqualified reporter.
Mishandling of the Duke lacrosse case (2006), where the paper initially amplified unproven allegations through a racial/sexual lens.
Credulous promotion of literary hoaxes (e.g., the J.T. LeRoy story).
Adversarial national-security reporting (e.g., the NSA surveillance leaks) and downplaying religious motives in cases like the Fort Hood shooting.
he Times abandoned theit legacy and became a vehicle for politically correct ideologies, “soft” pop-culture news, diversity-driven hiring and story selection, and lingering 1960s countercultural attitudes.
that was already sixteen years ago?!