New York Times: 168th Anniversary Worthy Of Celebration

Today, September 18, is the 168th anniversary of the New York Times, the best newspaper in America, and maybe in the world at large.

Founded in 1851, it became famous as the newspaper with the slogan: “All the News That’s Fit to Print”.

The newspaper has had its ups and downs, and has made mistakes, and been controversial, as they are presently for their revelation about Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and sexual harassment, based on a lack of clear cut reporting on a new book on the Justice.

But despite that, there is still a recognition in the journalism profession that the New York Times has been in the forefront of so much important news in detail, and revelations that might not have occurred otherwise.

Despite its lack of perfection, the New York Times is still more to be trusted and revered than any politician, who does not like the willingness of the New York Times to be attacked for mostly telling the truth.

So Donald Trump attacks the news media, and particularly the New York Times and Washington Post, the two best newspapers who have held his administration to the fire in an appropriate manner to preserve our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

No President, no Senator, no Congressman, no public personality in any endeavor can rest, knowing that the New York Times will do what it must do to preserve freedom and democracy for the long run.

So when one might occasionally be angry or irritated by some article in the New York Times, remember they are not here to be popular, but to be our guardian, and so one should always be glad that the New York Times does well, because to imagine the paper’s demise would be a sign of the downfall of the American Republic,

And every scholar, including this one, is indebted to the New York Times, for having been of great assistance in the publication of books and articles. My two books could not have been published without using the New York Times Index, and being amazed at the unbelievable depth of reporting provided in the pages of the New York Times for so long a time frame.

The New York Times has survived many demagogues in the world, and will survive Donald Trump, for certain!

28 comments on “New York Times: 168th Anniversary Worthy Of Celebration

  1. D September 19, 2019 5:34 am

    ‘NYT Laments ‘Forever Wars’ Its Editorials Helped Create’

    By Adam Johnson (10.23.2017)
    https://fair.org/home/nyt-laments-forever-wars-its-editorials-helped-create/

    Corporate media have a long history of lamenting wars they themselves helped sell the American public, but it’s rare so many wars and so much hypocrisy are distilled into one editorial. On Monday, the New York Times (10/22/17) lamented the expansion of America’s “forever wars” overseas, without once noting that every war mentioned is one the editorial board has itself endorsed, while failing to oppose any of the “engagements” touched on in the editorial.

    …

  2. D September 19, 2019 5:54 am

    ‘The New York Times Unites vs. Twitter’

    In a transcript of the newspaper’s crisis town-hall meeting, executive editor Dean Baquet grapples with a restive staff and outside scrutiny.

    By Ashley Feinberg (08.15.2019)
    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/new-york-times-meeting-transcript.html

    “What I’m saying is that our readers and some of our staff cheer us when we take on Donald Trump, but they jeer at us when we take on Joe Biden,” New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet told his staff in a town hall on Monday.

    In the 75 minutes of the meeting—which Slate obtained a recording of, and of which a lightly condensed and edited transcript appears below—Baquet and the paper’s other leadership tried to resolve a tumultuous week for the paper, one marked by a reader revolt against a front-page headline and a separate Twitter meltdown by Jonathan Weisman, a top editor in the Washington bureau. On Tuesday, the Times announced it was demoting Weisman from deputy editor because of his “serious lapses in judgment.”

    …

  3. Ronald September 19, 2019 6:24 am

    No debate about the faults and shortcomings of the NY Times over time, D, as with the Washington Post, but really with ALL media outlets!

    Still, better than having the government suppress the media, and at least, the errors are acknowledged over time, which is annoying that it takes too long for admission of errors!

  4. Former Republican September 19, 2019 12:19 pm

    The New York Times is not perfect, but it’s doing a great job of keeping people informed about Trump’s crimes.

  5. Ronald September 19, 2019 3:58 pm

    Exactly, Former Republican, as I said! 🙂

  6. Ronald September 19, 2019 5:01 pm

    I published an article on History News Network this week outlining the impeachment case against Trump, and comparing it to Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Richard Nixon.

  7. Rational Lefty September 20, 2019 8:20 am

    MSNBC is saying that it sounds like Trump was blackmailing Ukraine to get dirt on Biden.

  8. Jeffrey Moebus September 20, 2019 5:35 pm

    Main Point: You wrote, “So when one might occasionally be angry or irritated by some article in the New York Times, remember they are not here to be popular, but to be our guardian,… ”

    No, Doc… . They are NOT here to be “our guardian,” any more than the federal government is.

    They are here to be Reporters of the News, not Champions of Various Causes. They are here to provide honest, objective, fact-based information that will enable its readers ~ as Citizens, Taxpayers, and Voters ~ to know exactly what their government and the whole of Swampland is doing. That’s not being a “Guardian’; if anything, that is being a Sentinel. And there is a significant difference.

    Summary and Conclusion: The Times [along with WaPo and the rest of the mainstream print and electronic news media] hit its peak as the gold standard for journalism back in the 70s with Watergate and, particularly, with the Pentagon Papers.

    It [the Times in particular, and the media in general] began its descent into today’s comparative irrelevance and uselessness when it agreed to be “embedded” in Operation Desert Storm and the “liberation of Kuwait,” and thus totally subject to US military control as to what they could and thus would include in “all that news that was fit to print.” Thus, the US government ensured that nothing like the way the media functioned in and reported on Viet Nam would or could ever happen again. And the Times and Everybody else went right along with it.

    How could they not? CNN was leading the way into the New Age of Techno-Infotainment and making lots of money doing it, and depended critically on being controlled by the military so as to have access to all the video game highlites, “insider” briefings, etc.

    You wrote that ~ despite its “ups and downs, and mistakes” [like the Kavanaugh flapddodle; just the latest in a long line of similar professional journalistic screwups by The Grey Lady, eh?] ~ that “there is still a recognition in the journalism profession that the New York Times has been in the forefront of so much important news in detail, and revelations that might not have occurred otherwise.”

    Like What and since When? Like 2003 and Saddam’s WMD? Like 9/11 and the Rush to Revenge, Retaliation, and Retribution? Like 1991 and the Kuwaiti Incubator babies? You continued:

    “Despite its lack of perfection, the New York Times is still more to be trusted and revered than any politician, who does not like the willingness of the New York Times to be attacked for mostly telling the truth.”

    More trusted and revered than any politician, eh? Now THAT is faint praise, indeed. i think the National Enquirer can probably claim the same thing.

    “So Donald Trump attacks the news media, and particularly the New York Times and Washington Post, the two best newspapers who have held his administration to the fire in an appropriate manner to preserve our Constitution and Bill of Rights.”

    Yeah; i notice Obama and Cheney/Bush didn’t attack the Times for its criticism of everything this government has done since 9/11 that attacked the Constitution or the Bill of Rights; especially its Wars at home and abroad. Primarily because there has been no criticism.

    Nor is the Times attacking Trump for his planned War on Iran. War is BIG BUSINESS in the newspaper business; been so ever since CNN showed how.

    “No President, no Senator, no Congressman, no public personality in any endeavor can rest, knowing that the New York Times will do what it must do to preserve freedom and democracy for the long run.”

    Yep: Obama, Cheney, Clinton, none of them folks could rest at all while the NYT was on the beat.

    “… and so one should always be glad that the New York Times does well, because to imagine the paper’s demise would be a sign of the downfall of the American Republic.”

    The downfall of the American Republic began a long, long time ago ~ moving into high gear since 9/11 ~ and the Times and the rest of the MSM ~ Left, Right, and Muddled Middle ~ have been right along for the ride.

    The New York Times has survived many demagogues in the world, and will survive Donald Trump, for certain!

    No doubt. The real question is: Will America and the Planet survive Donald Trump?
    ###

  9. Rustbelt Democrat September 20, 2019 7:55 pm

    Nope. America, nor the planet, will survive if Trump manages to get re-elected. Everybody be patriotic and vote Blue in 2020!

  10. Pragmatic Progressive September 20, 2019 8:28 pm

    I’m dying to see how Fox is going to spin this tonight.

  11. Former Republican September 20, 2019 8:31 pm

    The fact that Dump reached out to a foreign power to influence 2020 election AFTER the Mueller report came out NOT exonerating him, shows that Dump assumes he’s above the law.

  12. Former Republican September 21, 2019 12:36 pm

    Regarding 9/11 – Bringing Bid Laden to justice was the right thing to do. Invading Iraq, was the wrong thing to do.

  13. Jeffrey Moebus September 21, 2019 12:56 pm

    When, where, and how was “bin Laden brought to justice”?

    By invading, occupying, and destroying what little semblance of civil society Afghanistan had before we set out to inflict “justice”?

    And how long does it take to get “justice” after bin Laden was supposedly killed in, not Afghanistan, but Pakistan?

    i love how the so-called anti-war, peace crowd went right along with Afghanistan, and then were shocked that their railing and ranting against Iraq went ignored.

    That War is no closer to being ended today than it was on 9/12.

    And which Democratic candidates are prepared to do anything about THAT?

  14. Southern Liberal September 21, 2019 1:48 pm

    Folks, quit talking to him. Like D, all he wants to do is argue.

  15. Jeffrey Moebus September 21, 2019 2:08 pm

    Like i said elsewhere: Heh. Yeah; i suppose that’s one way of classifying an attempt to explore a situation from a bit different perspective than that of the Echo Chamber News Silo. It’s funny how i get a similar reaction attempting to chat with the folks over on Breitbart. Maybe i’ll try Common Dreams. They are as fired up about impeachment without conviction ~ and love the NYT~ just as Y’All.

  16. Former Republican September 21, 2019 2:15 pm

    Our views are like Daily Kos in regards to impeachment.

  17. Former Republican September 21, 2019 2:16 pm

    Another place our views match is the comments section of Huffington Post articles.

  18. Jeffrey Moebus September 21, 2019 2:30 pm

    Common Dreams; Daily Kos; Huffington Post,and so forth: one Echo Chamber/News Silo.

    Breitbart, Fox, Drudge, and so forth, … another Echo Chamber/News Silo.

    No wonder this country is not simply divided, but on the edge of fracturing, if not disintegration. Sort of like it was 160 years ago on the eve of the First American Civil War.

  19. Rustbelt Democrat September 22, 2019 12:24 pm

    Wars have been happening for centuries. Quite frankly, I think we are incapable of ending war.

    https://ips-dc.org/end-no-wars/

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