The leader of The New York Times is saying it’s not the responsibility of the news organization he manages, or any other, to prevent former President Trump from winning a second term in office this autumn.
“There are individuals around the world who may choose, using their rights in a democracy, to elect Donald Trump as president. It is not the duty of the news media to stop that from happening. It’s the duty of [President] Biden and the people around Biden to prevent that from happening,” Times leader Joe Kahn shared during an interview with Semafor that was published during the weekend. “Our duty is to cover the full range of issues that people care about. Right now, democracy is one of them.”
Kahn anticipated “Trump could win this election in a popular vote” and stated the Times should not avoid covering topics that polls indicate are favorable to Trump over Biden, such as immigration.
“Are we going to become a tool of the Biden campaign? Are we going to transform into Xinhua News Agency or Pravda and release a stream of content that’s very, very supportive of them and only produce negative stories about the other side?” he inquired. “And what would that achieve?”
The statements from the top editor of the newspaper come shortly after reports that certain aides in Biden’s White House are becoming irritated with the Times’s reporting on the administration.
Kahn argued that the typical Times reader receives “a fairly well-rounded, impartial portrayal of Biden” and his legislative achievements.
“Naturally, you would also read some coverage about his weakness and his age,” he included.
