By: Jared Evan
A former editor at The New York Times is accusing the paper of being so far left that they regularly seek “permission” from powerful Democrats before printing the Op-Ed’s of conservative politicians.
Bari Weiss, a former New York Times opinion page editor, alleges that her bosses refused to run an op-ed submitted by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) without first getting approval from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Bari Weiss, according to The New York Post, resigned from the Gray Lady two years ago citing “bullying” as well as an “illiberal environment” for those with right-leaning views, made the allegation during an interview with Scott on her popular podcast “Honestly with Bari Weiss.”
A Times spokesperson told The New York Post in an official statement, “The New York Times Opinion never seeks outside approval or consultation whether to publish guest opinion essays.”
According to her nytimes.com bio, Bari Weiss Bari Weiss was an Op-Ed staff editor and writer until 2020, writing about culture and politics. She was an op-ed and book review editor at The Wall Street Journal before joining The Times in 2017.
She has also worked at Tablet, the online magazine of Jewish politics and culture. She is the author of “How to Fight Anti-Semitism,” published by Crown.
According to Weiss, U.S. Senator Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) office asked the Times to publish an op-ed about a piece of police reform legislation that the senator was working on called the Justice Act, NY Post pointed out.
The proposed bill by Scott, who is the only black Republican in the US Senate, failed to pass due to Democratic opposition. Scott told Weiss that the “Democrats really wanted the issue more than the solution.”
“Well, here’s what happened,” Weiss told Scott. “And this is the part I’m not sure if you know. There was a discussion about the piece and whether or not we should run it.
Weiss continued: “And one colleague, a more senior colleague said to a more junior colleague who was pushing for the piece, ‘Do you think the Republicans really care about minority rights?’”
“Wow,” Scott said.
“And the more junior colleagues said, ‘I think Tim Scott cares about minority rights’,” Weiss said.
“And then, and here’s the pretty shocking part. The more senior colleague said, ‘Let’s check with Sen. Schumer before we run it’,” Weiss said.
Weiss became one of the most read journalists on sub-stack as the traditional liberal has found many commonalities with the conservative and independent minded reader. Weis has been described as a liberal uncomfortable with the excesses of left-wing culture.
Weiss announced her departure from The New York Times on July 14, 2020, publishing a resignation letter on her website criticizing the Times for capitulating to criticism on Twitter and for not defending her against alleged bullying by her colleagues. Weiss accused her former employer of “unlawful discrimination, hostile work environment, and constructive discharge”, Washington Post summarized.
In her letter Weiss said, “Stories are chosen and told in a way to satisfy the narrowest of audiences, rather than to allow a curious public to read about the world and then draw their own conclusions.” She also wrote, “Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times, but Twitter has become its ultimate editor.”
Weiss who was one of the only Pro-Israel and Pro Jewish writers at the NY Times also explained in her resignation letter:
“They have called me a Nazi and a racist; I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m “writing about the Jews again.”
“Several colleagues perceived to be friendly with me were badgered by coworkers. My work and my character are openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels where masthead editors regularly weigh in. There, some coworkers insist I need to be rooted out if this company is to be a truly “inclusive” one, while others post ax emojis next to my name. Still other New York Times employees publicly smear me as a liar and a bigot on Twitter with no fear that harassing me will be met with appropriate action. They never are.”
