The Wall Street Journal editorial board told readers Thursday that “these pages won’t wilt under cancel-culture pressure” after a letter signed by hundreds of staff members criticized the paper’s op-ed section.
After readers expressed concerns about a letter that 280 WSJ colleagues signed criticizing the news outlet’s opinion section, the editorial board responded in a note to readers.
“It was probably inevitable that the wave of progressive cancel culture would arrive at the Journal, as it has at nearly every other cultural, business, academic and journalistic institution,” the WSJ editorial board said.
“But we are not the New York Times. Most Journal reporters attempt to cover the news fairly and down the middle, and our opinion pages offer an alternative to the uniform progressive views that dominate nearly all of today’s media,” the WSJ editorial board said. (Related: ‘Partisan Opportunism’: WSJ Disputes Liberals’ Coronavirus Comparisons Of US And Europe)
The New York Times faced criticism for publishing a column from Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton that called for federal troops to deploy to quell protests in American cities. After backlash from staff, the Times added an editorial note to the column saying said it “fell short of our standards and should not have been published.”
“It was probably inevitable that the wave of progressive cancel culture would arrive at the Journal, as it has at nearly every other cultural, business, academic and journalistic institution. But we are not the New York Times.” https://t.co/PcrRMw7QOW via @WSJ
— Philip Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) July 24, 2020
The letter from WSJ staff called for better distinction between the news and opinion section and was worried about “the Opinion section’s accuracy and transparency,” the WSJ reported Tuesday. The letter was sent to publisher Almar Latour and included news editor in chief Matt Murray.
The letter further said minority staff members had raised issues about a WSJ op-ed called “The Myth of Systemic Police Racism” and that the article “selectively presented facts and drew an erroneous conclusion from the underlying data,” the WSJ reported. (Related: NYT Writers Say NYT Put Their Colleagues ‘In Danger’ By Running Tom Cotton Op-Ed)
“Opinion’s lack of fact-checking and transparency, and its apparent disregard for evidence, undermine our readers’ trust and our ability to gain credibility with sources,” the letter said, according to the WSJ.
The editorial board’s response stated the opinions section will continue to feature people “who speak their minds within the tradition of vigorous, reasoned discourse.”
“As long as our proprietors allow us the privilege to do so, the opinion pages will continue to publish contributors who speak their minds within the tradition of vigorous, reasoned discourse,” the WSJ editorial board said.
“And these columns will continue to promote the principles of free people and free markets, which are more important than ever in what is a culture of growing progressive conformity and intolerance,” the WSJ editorial board said.
The Wall Street Journal’s Customer Service And Media Contacts did not respond immediately to the Daily Caller News Foundation for comment.
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