George Michael: The Culture of Intolerance

For evidence of intolerance and blatant disregard of truth in the American media, you need look no further than the resignation of editor and columnist Bari Weiss from The New York Times a few weeks ago.

Do you know her name? Probably not since most media outlets buried the story on the back pages. That in itself reveals the hypocrisy and complicity so widespread in the American left.

Media Research Center leader Brent Bozell said in support of Bari Weiss, “What this journalist has done is not just to indict, but to convict The New York Times of outright censorship. If it doesn't send shockwaves through the world of journalism, it's because the world of journalism no longer has ethics.”

Weiss published the resignation letter she sent to Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger on her personal website, saying, “Showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery” noting that she was bullied by colleagues in an “illiberal environment.”

Weiss described a chilling culture at the Times.

“Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times,” she wrote. “But Twitter has become its ultimate editor. As the ethics and mores of that platform have become those of the paper, the paper itself has increasingly become a kind of performance space. Stories are chosen and told in a way to satisfy the narrowest of audiences, rather than to allow a curious public to read about the world and then draw their own conclusions.

“My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views. They have called me a Nazi and a racist; I have learned to brush off comments about how I'm ‘writing about the Jews again.' Several colleagues perceived to be friendly with me were badgered by coworkers. My work and my character are openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels where masthead editors regularly weigh in. There, some coworkers insist I need to be rooted out if this company is to be a truly ‘inclusive' one, while others post ax emojis next to my name.”

Please note that her critics felt compelled to get rid of a moderate in their newsroom in order to achieve a more “inclusive” paper. How absurd is that?

While some at the Times praised Weiss' courage privately, nothing was done to defend her.

“Still other New York Times employees publicly smear me as a liar and a bigot on Twitter with no fear that harassing me will be met with appropriate action. They never are,” she wrote.

“Part of me wishes I could say that my experience was unique,” she continued. “But the truth is that intellectual curiosity – let alone risk-taking – is now a liability at The Times. Why edit something challenging to our readers, or write something bold only to go through the numbing process of making it ideologically kosher, when we can assure ourselves of job security (and clicks) by publishing our 4000th op-ed arguing that Donald Trump is a unique danger to the country and the world? And so self-censorship has become the norm.

“What rules that remain at The Times are applied with extreme selectivity. If a person's ideology is in keeping with the new orthodoxy, they and their work remain unscrutinized. Everyone else lives in fear of the digital thunderdome. Online venom is excused so long as it is directed at the proper targets.”

What more can be said in terms of an accurate evaluation of modern liberal culture than this? Journalism was once regarded as a fair and balanced approach to finding what was happening in the public sector. Now, journalism has deteriorated to vile baseness and viciousness.

As Brent Bozell noted, “She is making the salient point that journalism is dead at The New York Times and it's been replaced by censorship that is controlled by radicals.”

Michael Goodwin, a New York Post columnist and former New York Times bureau chief noted, “What she describes is bullying, harassment, and anti-Semitism. … It's quite striking. The picture she paints of what is going on there is, I have to say, worse than I suspected.”

For those willing to think on their own to some degree, it is easy to spot media bias on display day after day across a wide spectrum. It does not serve the public well.

George Michael, a lifelong resident of Washington County who lives in Williamsport, is a former principal of Grace Academy. His email address is gfmichael46@gmail.com.

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