Bari Weiss Resigns from the New York Times

The New York Times just lost Bari Weiss. One of the brighter young journalists, an excellent writer, someone I have occasionally quoted (very favorably) on this blog, Weiss just resigned from the Times. 

Being a centrist, being Jewish, being gay… you would have thought that Weiss would have had been protected by the powers that  be at the Times. Alas, the powers are mostly impotent now. They run with the mob and they submit to the mob. If Times staff detests you for being Jewish, the publisher will not stand with you. If Times staff harasses and bullies you, the publisher will not stand with you. 

For my part I find it unspeakably sad, though we would all cheer if Weiss sues the Times for condoning a hostile work environment.

I am linking her resignation letter because it contains the good writing and clear thinking we have come to expect from her. 

As in this remark about the new press consensus:

Instead, a new consensus has emerged in the press, but perhaps especially at this paper: that truth isn’t a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else.

And you were worried about Fox News. One notes that Fox News does have a diversity of opinions and that no one was ever bullied and harassed for expressing a liberal or progressive view.

In the above quotation, Weiss identifies one of the staples of the new leftist thinking: a band of philosopher kings is running the show. They take upon themselves the task of telling everyone else how to think, and of ensuring that only the correct opinion is allowed.

Weiss describes the way she was treated at the Times:

My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views. 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.

There are terms for all of this: unlawful discrimination, hostile work environment, and constructive discharge. I’m no legal expert. But I know that this is wrong. 

And, she addresses the new publisher, the young scion of the Sulzberger family, called. A. G. 

I do not understand how you have allowed this kind of behavior to go on inside your company in full view of the paper’s entire staff and the public. And I certainly can’t square how you and other Times leaders have stood by while simultaneously praising me in private for my courage. Showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery.

Only one opinion is allowed in the Times, Weiss continues: one that denounces and decries Donald Trump:

Why edit something challenging to our readers, or write something bold only to go through the numbing process of making it ideologically kosher, when we can assure ourselves of job security (and clicks) by publishing our 4000th op-ed arguing that Donald Trump is a unique danger to the country and the world? 

It is beyond appalling, but it is good that someone from within the New York Times is calling it out for its appalling dereliction, its appalling lack of journalistic ethics.

We admire Bari Weiss. We wish her the best. And we look forward to reading her again and again.