The New York Times is launching a new initiative: a new beat dedicated to covering “right-wing media.” This move is ostensibly designed to help its readers better understand the impetus behind how conservatives vote and how they view the overall political landscape.
The newspaper’s political editor announced that Ken Bensinger, a former investigative reporter, would “pioneer a new beat covering right-wing media as part of the democracy team on the Politics desk.”
The new beat involves “people who reject mainstream narratives and question the institutions that hold up our democracy,” and that “[u]nderstanding the way information is developed, circulated and absorbed on the right is vital at this precarious moment, and requires a healthy measure of patience, empathy and understanding along with investigative chops, skepticism and toughness.”
A spokesperson for the outlet said:
“Our media and technology desks thoroughly cover many aspects of hyperpartisan media and misinformation (when relevant). The Politics desk created a new beat on this topic because many Americans rely solely on right wing media for their information, which often bears little resemblance to what is being reported in mainstream media. We want our readers to be informed about what is driving the political decisions of many Americans.”
The New York Times’ reportage has had a distinct focus on conservatives. Fox News noted:
The Times’ media coverage has long shown a heavy emphasis on the right. According to a search of its website, 577 Times articles – including more than 200 opinion pieces – contain the term “right-wing media”, while just 48 have the term “left-wing media,” a ratio of more than 12 to 1. Many of the “left-wing media” references were simply from quoting figures like former President Trump deriding outlets they viewed as having liberal bias, rather than the Times reporting critically on them.
If the New York Times were truly trying to gain a better understanding of why conservatives view politics the way they do, it would be a refreshing development. It would be a much healthier way to cover these issues rather than simply portraying Republicans as hopeless bigots.
Unfortunately, there is ample reason for skepticism in this regard. Most of the Times’ op-eds and reports regarding the right have had an apparent left-wing bias. Its readership and staff are mostly left-leaning. On top of that, the outlet is not exactly honest when it comes to its coverage of conservative voters and Republican politicians. It often runs interference for Democrats while taking an antagonistic approach towards the right.
Over the past decade, Americans’ trust in the media has fallen precipitously. Numerous polls found that the mainstream activist media outlets have suffered in their ratings as people seek out alternative sources for information.
The most recent Gallup poll underscores the drop in America’s confidence in the press. From the report:
Americans’ confidence in two facets of the news media — newspapers and television news — has fallen to all-time low points. Just 16% of U.S. adults now say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspapers and 11% in television news. Both readings are down five percentage points since last year.
These are some rather dismal numbers, right?
But in light of the New York Times’ new initiative, they might be quite instructive. If this new beat goes the way I believe it will, it will be yet another example of why people do not trust the establishment activist media and why they are looking elsewhere for their news.
This new beat will be designed to continue the newspaper’s attacks on conservatives. It will be yet another way to paint the right as ignorant bigots seeking to bring about a Christian nationalist theocracy. The reports will only serve to reaffirm the biases of its left-leaning readers and will have nothing to do with fostering an environment of understanding. To put it simply, these people aren’t fooling anyone.
