In one swoop, the far-left New York Times culture desk removed four of its critics from long-held posts. They will be reassigned and replaced.
Culture Editor Sia Michel released a memo Tuesday announcing the moves. Those impacted are chief pop music critic Jon Pareles (a role he’s been in for 37 years), theater critic Jesse Green (eight years), television critic Margaret Lyons (nine years), and classical music critic Zach Woolfe (three years).
Where they are headed, no one knows, but they will be replaced. Ouch.
Here’s the thinking behind the move, per the memo:
“[I]t is important to bring different perspectives to core disciplines as we help our coverage expand beyond the traditional review,” Michel wrote. “We are in the midst of an extraordinary moment in American culture. New generations of artists and audiences are bypassing traditional institutions,” she continued, adding that “smartphones have Balkanized fandoms even as they have made culture more widely accessible than ever, and arts institutions are facing challenges and looking for new opportunities.”
“Our readers are hungry for trusted guides to help them make sense of this complicated landscape, not only through traditional reviews but also with essays, new story forms, videos, and experimentation with other platforms.”
What she doesn’t explain is why those already in those jobs are not qualified to meet those new challenges.
Nevertheless, you have to give the New York Times credit for continuing to thrive in a media landscape where most every other legacy news outlet is — tee hee — falling apart. The Times has come up with a successful strategy to attract a lucrative number of subscribers by going beyond political news and into arts and entertainment.
This has come at a price. As a news outlet, the Times used to set the day’s political narrative. Thanks to the emergence of New Media and outlets like the Times squandering their credibility on fake news, those days are (thankfully) over. While the Times is a successful business, it is now a boutique business, a slave to its upper-class, far-left subscriber base, which means the Times must appease them.
An excellent example of how its own subscriber base has undermined its journalism happened last week when the Times uncovered the fact that Democrat mayoral frontrunner — communist and antisemite Zohran Mamdani—once described himself as “black” on a college application.
That’s a legitimate piece of news about the man most likely to become the mayor of one of the most important cities on the planet. But the Times customer base will not stand for inconvenient news about a Democrat, especially a commie. So…
Hilariously, the Times was forced to issue what many saw as a mewling, groveling apology for reporting a fact.
I’m fine with the Times thriving as an elitist cooking and travel outlet, but I’m thrilled at how the left-wing tail wags the dog over there.
As a credible news source, the Times is dead. So, who cares if a bunch of terrible white women enjoy a foo-foo leisure and arts section mixed with the only news their intolerant and ignorant subscribers want to read.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.
