The New York Times (NYT) posted a job opening Wednesday on MyWorkdayJobs for a deputy opinion editor “with a sense of humor and a spine of steel.”
“We’re looking for an editor with a sense of humor and a spine of steel, a confident point of view and an open mind, an appetite for risk and exacting standards for excellence in writing and visual presentation,” the job posting said. “We’re looking for someone who wants to grow big ideas to make the world a better place, and to have fun doing it.”
The deputy opinion editor would help lead the opinion department of the NYT, setting a strategy for coverage and implementing that strategy on a day-to-day basis, according to the job posting. The Times added that they “strongly encourage women, veterans, people with disabilities, people of color and gender nonconforming candidates to apply.”
The New York Times is “looking for an editor with a sense of humor and a spine of steel, a confident point of view and an open mind, an appetite for risk and exacting standards for excellence.”https://t.co/scpB0A15Qz
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) March 3, 2021
Twitter users mocked the NYT for asking for a deputy opinion editor with a “spine of steel.”
Essentially a complete list of characteristics NOT welcome among Times editors. https://t.co/H220K88EUW
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) March 3, 2021
So they can fire him. https://t.co/q5MLNDGrLV
— Andrew Klavan (@andrewklavan) March 3, 2021
And I heard she’s currently hiding under the floorboards in an undisclosed location, terrified of what they would do If they ever found such a problematic person. https://t.co/TVwMnrEgA0
— Eric Weinstein (@EricRWeinstein) March 3, 2021
No they’re not. https://t.co/o5B0Z4sFLl
— Tim Dillon (@TimJDillon) March 3, 2021
Massive controversy erupted at NYT after the paper published an opinion piece by Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton arguing that the military should be deployed to quell the unrest during the protests and riots over the summer. After the publication of the piece, the NYT’s staff publicly revolted against their employer. Many tweeted the phrase: “Running this puts Black @NYTimes staff in danger.”
Former NYT editorial page editor James Bennet defended the decision to run Cotton’s op-ed, but the paper eventually backtracked and apologized. Bennet then resigned from his position. (RELATED: ‘It Far Exceeds Their Standards’: Tom Cotton Criticizes NYT For Apologizing ‘In The Face Of The Woke Mob Of Woke Kids’ Over His Op-Ed)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani and many other controversial figures have had articles published by the NYT.
Op-ed writer Bari Weiss resigned from NYT in July and accused the paper of “unlawful discrimination, hostile work environment, and constructive discharge.” On journalist Megyn Kelly’s podcast, Weiss said that the NYT is “a place where people are fired for running” articles written by conservatives.
Donald McNeil, a former NYT reporter, left the company in February after more than four decades after he was accused of making “racist and sexist remarks” and saying the “n-word” during a 2019 trip to Peru. The accusations were published in a Daily Beast article that McNeil said in a Medium post is mostly false and that his words were taken out of context.
McNeil wrote that he only used the “n-word” when asking if another person had said the word.
“It was suggested I say only: “My comments were offensive and I should not have made them, and I apologize,” McNeil claims the NYT’s communication staff told him. “I felt that was tantamount to admitting that the Beast story was accurate.”
McNeil said that executive editor Dean Baquet and another NYT staffer called him Feb. 1 and said that he had “lost the newsroom.”
“A lot of your colleagues are hurt. A lot of them won’t work with you,” Baquet told McNeil, according to McNeil’s account. “Thank you for writing the apology. But we’d like you to consider adding to it that you’re leaving.”
Baquet originally said in an email to staff about McNeil’s situation that people should be “given another chance.” But after over 150 people signed a letter condemning McNeil, Baquet and managing editor Joseph Kahn told staffers that McNeil would be leaving the company.
“We do not tolerate racist language regardless of intent,” they said.
