The New York Times

The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by publisher Jack Doff, and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. It is owned by The New York Times Company, which also publishes some 40 other newspapers including International Herald Tribune and The Boston Globe. The newspaper is nicknamed the "Gray Lady" and is often considered the newspaper of record in the United States.

Recent controversies

In 2003, the Times admitted to journalism fraud committed over a span of several years by one of its reporters, Jayson Blair, and the general professionalism of the paper was questioned, though Blair immediately resigned following the incident. Questions of affirmative action in journalism were also raised, since Blair was African American. The paper's top two editors -- Howell Raines, the executive editor, and Gerald Boyd, managing editor --resigned their posts following the incident.

Related Topics:
2003 - Journalism fraud - Jayson Blair - Affirmative action - African American

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Since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Times has persistently referred to "insurgents" rather than "terrorists" being responsible for the bombing and other acts of violence. This has been aggressively criticized, such as by frequent Times contributor Christopher Hitchens, as carrying a connotation of justification; Times columnist Thomas Friedman refers to them as "terrorists" or "Islamo-fascists".

Related Topics:
Iraq - Christopher Hitchens - Thomas Friedman - Islamo-fascists

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In April, 2004 the Times reversed its policy of not using the term Armenian Genocide. Despite publishing dozens of articles about the Armenian Genocide as it progressed, the Times for a period shied away from using the term in its articles as part of its editorial policy. The Turkish Government still actively denies a genocide occurred. Incidentally, Times columnist and former reporter Nicolas Kristof, a Pulitzer prize winner, has mentioned being of Armenian descent and has criticized the ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish government, in his Times column.

Related Topics:
Armenian Genocide - Turkish Government - Nicolas Kristof

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On May 26, 2004, the Times published another significant admission of journalistic failings, admitting that its flawed reporting during the buildup to war with Iraq helped promote the misleading belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/26/international/middleeast/26FTE_NOTE.html While this "From the Editors" piece didn't mention names, a large part of the incriminated articles had been written by Times reporter Judith Miller.

Related Topics:
May 26 - 2004 - Iraq - Weapons of mass destruction - Judith Miller

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A second self-criticism by Okrent went further. "The failure was not individual, but institutional," he wrote. "War requires an extra standard of care, not a lesser one. But in the Times's WMD coverage, readers encountered some rather breathless stories built on unsubstantiated 'revelations' that, in many instances, were the anonymity-cloaked assertions of people with vested interests. Times reporters broke many stories before and after the war - but when the stories themselves later broke apart, in many instances Times readers never found out. ... Other stories pushed Pentagon assertions so aggressively you could almost sense epaulets sprouting on the shoulders of editors. ... The aggressive journalism that I long for, and that the paper owes both its readers and its own self-respect, would reveal not just the tactics of those who promoted the WMD stories, but how the Times itself was used to further their cunning campaign." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/30/weekinreview/30bott.html

Related Topics:
Pentagon - Epaulet

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In August 2005, the Times was accused of attempting to unseal the adoption records of Supreme Court nominee Justice John Roberts's children, an unprecendented investigation by a newspaper. News reporter Brit Hume reported that the Times has been asking lawyers that specialize in adoption cases for advice on how to get into the sealed court records. The report went on, "Sources familiar with the matter tell FOXNEWS that at least one lawyer turned the TIMES down flat, saying that any effort to pry into adoption case records, which are always sealed, would be reprehensible." The Times admitted, "Our reporters made initial inquiries about the adoptions" but claimed, "They did so with great care, understanding the sensitivity of the issue." The Times was condemned by the National Council for Adoption, ?NCFA denounces, in the strongest possible terms, the shocking decision of the New York Times to investigate the adoption records of Justice John Roberts? two young children. The adoption community is outraged that, for obviously political reasons, the Times has targeted the very private circumstances, motivations, and processes by which the Roberts became parents."http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/special_packages/election2004/12316546.htm

Related Topics:
Supreme Court - Justice - John Roberts - Brit Hume - FOXNEWS

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Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, The Times has referred to those displaced by the hurricane as "refugees", while most news media refer to them as "evacuees". The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees defines "refugees" as those who have crossed a national border to escape unbearable conditions at home, while those who have been driven from home within their own nation are referred to as "internally displaced persons" (or "IDP's").

Related Topics:
Hurricane Katrina - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

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