Angry subscribers forced The New York Times to tweak today's top headline because it was apparently too kind to President Trump.
The initial headline read, "Trump Urges Unity vs. Racism" and went into detail about the president's response to the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. Upon seeing it, some readers said, how dare they.
The New York Times changed its headline for the second edition, but this is the one that landed on our doorstep & is displayed in storefronts throughout our majority-black zip code. What a betrayal, pretending this president is not the racist we know him to be. pic.twitter.com/qEaj0HJqK2
— Connie Schultz (@ConnieSchultz) August 6, 2019
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke called it "unbelievable" that the Times would steep so low, while progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) summed it up. The newspaper just cannot give Trump an inch in this debate.
Let this front page serve as a reminder of how white supremacy is aided by - and often relies upon - the cowardice of mainstream institutions. https://t.co/ynjgtT66yI
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 6, 2019
Even contributors for the NYT had to say it. The title was "terrible."
I write for the NYT. This is a terrible headline. https://t.co/ODa8SUK9wf
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) August 6, 2019
So, the publishers ran back to the presses and changed the headline to the more acceptable, "Assailing hate but not guns." They also provided an explanation for the initial egregious error.
New York Times releases a second edition with a different headline after Twitter backlash and liberals announce they’re canceling subscriptions. pic.twitter.com/fxLav5pQHP
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) August 6, 2019
According to the Times, the first headline was penned by "some poor copy editor on the night shift trying sum up one of the most complicated issues of our time (race, violence, murder, immigration, bigotry, presidential history) in four words.”
They admit it was "bad."
But the apology may not be enough. I see #CancelNYT is trending.
Now, if you think the New York Times is too complimentary of President Trump, we've really got a problem. I mean this is the outlet who on Monday ran a story entitled, "El Paso Shooting Suspect's Manifesto Echoes Trump's Language." That, I presume, was much more favorable to liberal eyes. What's more, the Times may be trying to make up for this morning's debacle because one glance at the digital front page and you'll see op-ed after op-ed calling Trump a white supremacist.
Others were shocked that this is what it's come to.
After years defending it as a nonpartisan, objective outlet, it's remarkable how openly entitled some liberals feel in demanding the New York Times just parrot back their own beliefs to them, and change detached headlines to openly editorializing ones
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) August 6, 2019
Thirty-one people were killed in this weekend's mass shootings. Trump addressed the tragedies from the White House on Monday, where he condemned white supremacy and addressed the need to combat mental illness. He will visit El Paso and Dayton on Wednesday.