Joe Concha: Bari Weiss’ resignation letter exposes’ patently toxic ‘culture in the NY Times


The scathing resignation letter from former New York Times columnist and opinion writer Bari Weiss exposes a “patently toxic” culture in the newspaper, Joe Concha of The Hill said Wednesday.

In an interview on “Fox & Friends,” Concha said a couple of things about Tuesday’s letter caught his attention.

“He was talking about … harassment, bullying and a clearly toxic culture in The New York Times that no longer encompasses the most important diversity of all and that’s diversity of thought,” he said.

BARI WEISS CLOSES NEW YORK TIMES AFTER ‘BULLYING’ BY COLLEAGUES OVER VIEWS

In his resignation, which was sent to the editor of Times AG Sulzberger on his personal website, Weiss described a “hostile work environment” where he experienced “illegal discrimination” at the hands of other editors and writers.

“My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant harassment by colleagues who disagree with my views,” he said.

“I don’t understand how you have allowed this type of behavior to continue within your company in full view of all newspaper staff and the public. And I certainly cannot understand how you and other Times leaders have been simultaneously praising me. privately because of my courage, “Weiss wrote. “Signing up to work as a centrist in an American newspaper shouldn’t take courage.”

Weiss said publishing standards appear to have changed in recent years, taking into account public opinion and Twitter comments.

“And he’s not making that up, because we saw him last month with an opinion editor named James Bennett,” said Concha. “And you had the audacity to publish an opinion piece by Senator Tom Cotton on the use of the armed forces when there are violent uprisings and protests in the country. And, if you say that it is an extreme thought, you can say that if [you’d] I like it. But, polls of the time showed that most Americans agreed with Cotton on that issue and James Bennett was removed from the publication. “

“That’s all you need to know about your diversity of thinking, guys,” he said.

Concha also noted the removal of a “Public Editor” from the Times: a position that served as a watchdog for editors, “protecting journalistic integrity and good publishing practice.”

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“And now the executive editor, at least at the time, said, ‘We’re going to rely on online comments and readers’ comments.’ In other words, the social media mob is now dictating content on The New York Times in terms of what’s appropriate and what’s not, “he said. “And, Bari Weiss says it best here, guys: ‘Signing up to work as a centrist in an American newspaper … shouldn’t take courage.’ Apparently, he did.”

“This document needs to demonstrate that it actually has a balanced opinion section. It does not at the moment,” he concluded. “I will leave you with this last thought: Only one writer from The New York Times went to social media yesterday to defend Bari Weiss. Everyone else was silent.”