Journalism profession has ‘lost its way’ — and it’s not just the New York Times 

The former opinion editor of the New York Times, James Bennet, took his former employer to task recently in a lengthy essay. The headline of the piece boldly asserted that the New York Times has “lost its way.” Inasmuch as the newspaper represents professional expectations and standards for the entire journalism world, Bennet could be translated as saying the broader news industry has also lost its way. The Times is just the largest float at the front of a parade heading in the wrong direction. 

Indeed, public sentiment about the news industry as a whole is at dismal levels. Gallup polling shows Americans’ confidence in the news media to report in a “full, fair and accurate way” is at historically low levels. Given this lack of trust, it only stands to reason that Americans are less likely to follow the news at all. There is no need to consume news from sources one can’t trust. Journalists rank near the bottom of public ratings of professions in terms of ethics and honesty. 

For better or worse, when Americans think of the journalism industry, the New York Times jumps to the front of their consciousness. It is the major news outlet in the nation’s most prominent city. The Times is perhaps the key player in setting the nation’s news agenda. What gets defined as news at the Times ends up being covered by virtually all broadcast networks, cable news channels and other competing news outlets.  

Beyond the news topics in the agenda, however, journalists across the country, and even the world, monitor the Times to see what approach the “Gray Lady” will take on those topics. As Bennet points out, the Times has long been noted for its rather left-of-center approach to the news of the day. It can be of little surprise that other news outlets see this drift and model it, assuming that if pushing angles on the news is OK for the Times, it must therefore be an industry standard. The number of prominent news outlets that get a “lean left” label from the AllSides Media Bias Chart is worth pondering. That list includes not only the New York Times, but the Washington Post, CNN, USA Today, CBS, NBC, ABC and the Associated Press, among many others. 

Bennet’s essay basically provides an insider’s window into the world of professional journalism. But his perspective just confirms what most American news consumers have known for a while — that professional journalism has taken on an activist nature. That activism has replaced journalism’s former mission to provide fact-based information on which citizens can manage their lives and hold the powerful accountable. 

Of course, opinion and analysis have always been a part of journalism. Journalism has historically had a raucous component with opinion pages, endorsements and so on. But there has long been a sense in the journalism profession that such activist content was to be confined to designated sections, and that the news was to be fact-driven and balanced. Fairness is a skill that journalists once prided themselves on achieving. 

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger responded to Bennet’s essay with a formal statement disagreeing with his narrative and touting the Times’s commitment to “independent journalism.” But Bennet wasn’t disputing the need for independence in journalism — that should be a given (and, by the way, is protected by the First Amendment). The issue is whether independent news outlets can fairly fuel the broad conversation of democracy with transparency. Bennet criticized the Times as drifting from “liberal bias to illiberal bias,” caving to an “impulse to shut down debate altogether.” 

The nation needs solid, sensible and fair journalism. Citizens need to know that much good journalism is still being produced. But the public has grown weary of having to search for the effective journalism being done and no longer trusts the industry “leaders” to provide it. News consumers want a news industry that serves the interests of regular people, rather than the self-interests of journalism executives riding ideological high horses. 

The decline in trust and readership is hurting the news industry financially. Job cuts in journalism accelerated in the last year to record rates. With an election on the horizon, a sputtering economy and international tensions, America seriously needs an informed electorate. Citizens can’t be well informed when they abandon formerly trusted news outlets for echo chambers or social media.  

The news industry needs to reinvent itself and find its principles. Given its historic stature, the New York Times could play a leading role in this new vision. Otherwise, the time could well come when the Times is known primarily as just a place to play Wordle. 

Jeffrey M. McCall is a media critic and professor of communication at DePauw University. He has worked as a radio news director, a newspaper reporter and as a political media consultant. Follow him on X @Prof_McCall.