What Mr. Costello Is Reading Right Now: NYT White Nationalist Profile and Controversy
Hi MTW!
I hope everyone found some rest and enjoyment during the extended weekend. I was reminded that holidays and family time can be restorative for some, but painful and stressful for others, especially those with social identities that are not accepted or understood by those closest to them. More on that later.
American citizens are tasked with the analysis of news media to determine the level of truthfulness. Educated citizens must be able to separate personal beliefs from facts in order for those beliefs to form and transform. Here is the controversy summarized with four pieces that should be required reading.
1. This weekend, the NYT published a profile of a white nationalist that has received some intense criticism from its readership. Please read:
I hope everyone found some rest and enjoyment during the extended weekend. I was reminded that holidays and family time can be restorative for some, but painful and stressful for others, especially those with social identities that are not accepted or understood by those closest to them. More on that later.
American citizens are tasked with the analysis of news media to determine the level of truthfulness. Educated citizens must be able to separate personal beliefs from facts in order for those beliefs to form and transform. Here is the controversy summarized with four pieces that should be required reading.
1. This weekend, the NYT published a profile of a white nationalist that has received some intense criticism from its readership. Please read:
2. NYT's national editor responds to the backlash that followed in this piece:
Stephanie Stevenson is followed by a normal dog, who walks into the room with a slight limp, and Stephen pets it. He leans in.
“The Jews control all the money, and the world would be better off if they were dead,” he says, petting the dog. “Who’s a good boy?”
The question is rhetorical. I ask about the wallpaper.
Some people disagree with Stevenson’s political views.
“He’s a nice enough guy,” said the local grocer, Butch Tarmac, a registered Democrat. “He buys apples and pancake mix. I also like those things. But I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on the bit about the one true race cleansing the soil and commanding what is rightfully theirs.”
“It’s totally fucked up,” said one person, whose name I didn’t catch.
Lacey's response is summarized by this paragraph at the end:
"We regret the degree to which the piece offended so many readers. We recognize that people can disagree on how best to tell a disagreeable story. What we think is indisputable, though, is the need to shed more light, not less, on the most extreme corners of American life and the people who inhabit them. That’s what the story, however imperfectly, tried to do."
3. Eventually, the original author was compelled to write a follow up piece to provide some of the context which may have been lost on those who have been most critical:
"We regret the degree to which the piece offended so many readers. We recognize that people can disagree on how best to tell a disagreeable story. What we think is indisputable, though, is the need to shed more light, not less, on the most extreme corners of American life and the people who inhabit them. That’s what the story, however imperfectly, tried to do."
3. Eventually, the original author was compelled to write a follow up piece to provide some of the context which may have been lost on those who have been most critical:
One reader finished their commentary with this:
"This piece was meandering and unfocused, the kind of the thing I would expect to find at a freshman seminar. Journalism shouldn't be an unfinished, poetic exercise."
4. Finally, “The Atlantic” published a parody of the original profile published by the NYT with this note:
“Editor’s Note: This essay was inspired by “A Voice of Hate in America’s Heartland,” published in The New York Times on November 25, 2017. The Times reflected on the shortcomings of the piece after it was met with outrage and ridicule.”
“Nazis Are Just Like You and Me, Except They’re Nazis...despite what you may have read in The New York Times” by James Hamblin
"This piece was meandering and unfocused, the kind of the thing I would expect to find at a freshman seminar. Journalism shouldn't be an unfinished, poetic exercise."
4. Finally, “The Atlantic” published a parody of the original profile published by the NYT with this note:
“Editor’s Note: This essay was inspired by “A Voice of Hate in America’s Heartland,” published in The New York Times on November 25, 2017. The Times reflected on the shortcomings of the piece after it was met with outrage and ridicule.”
“Nazis Are Just Like You and Me, Except They’re Nazis...despite what you may have read in The New York Times” by James Hamblin
Here is an excerpt:
Stephanie Stevenson is followed by a normal dog, who walks into the room with a slight limp, and Stephen pets it. He leans in.
“The Jews control all the money, and the world would be better off if they were dead,” he says, petting the dog. “Who’s a good boy?”
The question is rhetorical. I ask about the wallpaper.
Some people disagree with Stevenson’s political views.
“He’s a nice enough guy,” said the local grocer, Butch Tarmac, a registered Democrat. “He buys apples and pancake mix. I also like those things. But I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on the bit about the one true race cleansing the soil and commanding what is rightfully theirs.”
“It’s totally fucked up,” said one person, whose name I didn’t catch.
It will probably become even more difficult in the coming years to sift through news media to discover what is true. President Donald Trump tweeted this earlier today (11/27/17):
"We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!"
"We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!"
Are we up to the task?
--C
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