FOR REALISM AND DIVERSITY IN LIBERAL JOURNALISM AND AT THE NEW YORK TIMES
Mr. Sulzberger’s Bubble
The lead editorial in The New York Times on September 25, 2003, titled “The Presidential Bubble,” contended that President Bush considers himself a man of the people, but is in fact isolated from the people and incurious about their affairs. It said that “It is worrisome when one of the most incurious men ever to occupy the White House takes pains to insist that he gets his information on what the world is saying only in predigested bits from his appointees. Mr. Bush thinks of himself as a man of the people, but carefully staged contacts with groups of supporters or small children does not constitute getting in touch with the people. It is in Mr. Bush’s interest, as well as the nation’s, for him to burst the bubble he has been inhabiting, and take a hard look at the real world.”
This was all very curious, since Arthur Sulzberger considers himself a man of journalism, but is completely insulated from reality and incurious about political views in opposition to his own. It is worrisome when one of the most incurious men ever to occupy the position of publisher of The New York Times takes pains get his information on what the world is like only in predigested bits from his political party and its supporting pressure groups.
Mr. Sulzberger thinks of himself as a man of the people, but carefully considered ideology drawn from the perspective of his political allies does not constitute getting in touch with the people. Mr. Sulzberger will never lose his job or his reputation as the result of being called a racist, sexist, or ‘right-wing conspirator’ — devices his paper routinely employs against political opponents and which have become accepted in American discourse and available to anyone hateful enough to use them. It is in Mr. Sulzberger’s interest, as well as the nation’s, for him to burst the bubble he has been inhabiting, and take a hard look at the real world — and at himself.