Media

NY Times executive editor: Early Trump ‘unity’ headline a ‘bad’ one

by Joe Concha - 08/06/19 1:40 PM ET

New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet said the newspaper’s original Monday front-page headline that asserted President Trump urged “unity vs. racism” after mass shootings was “a bad headline” and it “was changed pretty quickly” following backlash online.

“It was written on deadline and when it was passed along for approval we all saw it was a bad headline and changed it pretty quickly,” Baquet told The Daily Beast’s editor-at-large Lloyd Grove on Tuesday.

“I understand the concern people have. Headlines matter. But I hope they read the coverage, which I will argue was strong,” Baquet also said by text, according to the Beast.{mosads}

The original headline, “TRUMP URGES UNITY VS. RACISM,” was unveiled Monday night in reference to the president’s comments from the White House in which he addressed a pair of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that left more than 30 people dead.

“In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy,” Trump said on Monday. “These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America.”

The New York Times headline led to the hashtag #CancelNYT, which jumped to the top-trending topic on Twitter on Monday for several hours.

Several left-leaning pundits and journalists condemned the original headline, including employees of the Times itself and some 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls.

I write for the NYT. This is a terrible headline. https://t.co/ODa8SUK9wf

— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) August 6, 2019

NYT can be an insular institution, particularly when it comes under criticism. But I have never received more texts from furious NYT reporters/writers than I have tonight. They feel like their hard work is being sullied by a horrible headline. And they’re all blaming Dean Baquet https://t.co/orhSFjxHtI

— Yashar Ali (@yashar) August 6, 2019

Dean Baquet, editor of the New York Times, cares more about being seen as impartial by diehard supporters of Donald Trump than he does about faithfully representing what is happening in American politics.

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) August 6, 2019

Unbelievable. https://t.co/rLgaacttDS

— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 6, 2019

Lives literally depend on you doing better, NYT. Please do. https://t.co/L4CpCb8zLi

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) August 6, 2019

Some conservatives blasted the decision by The New York Times to change the headline by arguing the paper had folded to the “mob.”

#CancelNYT is trending because today’s front page claims that, in his speech yesterday, @realDonaldTrump urged unity over racism- which he did.

But I guess they thought the headline should be “Trump Accidentally Says Toledo.”

— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) August 6, 2019

Depressing that when the newspaper of record publishes a headline that is remotely neutral to @realDonaldTrump like the fact he’s urging “unity” a movement begins to #CancelNYT. Left wing intolerance is as repugnant as right wing intolerance.

— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) August 6, 2019

So the NYT is responding to the crazed mob by changing the headline to something less factual and more opiniony, but it’s still not enough. Within a few hours, expect to see the Times give up and go with their usual of “Orange Man Still Bad” https://t.co/fxLWZXYi8H

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) August 6, 2019