Civil war at the New York Times

In an earlier post, I discussed the ongoing scandals at the BBC. The director general who resigned a few months ago, Mark Thompson, has become the chief executive officer at the New York Times. Apparently, there are a lot of employees at the Times who aren't very happy about that.

As the crisis at the BBC escalates, the New York Times’ own journalists attacked the integrity of Mark Thompson and openly questioned whether he was the right man to lead the world’s newspaper of record.

The pointed criticism of Thompson, who faces questions over whether he played a role in shutting down a BBC investigation detailing child sex abuse allegations against star BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, grew after new Director General George Entwistle resigned just weeks into the job over a bungled broadcast into separate child abuse claims that falsely implied a former Margaret Thatcher-era politician was a pedophile.

“I’m very saddened by recent events at the BBC,” Mark Thompson told reporters as he arrived at the New York Times Monday. “I believe the BBC is the world’s greatest broadcaster and I have got no doubt that it will once again regain the public’s trust both in the U.K. and around the world.”

Savile is accused of abusing hundreds of girls in his lifetime, including some on BBC premises. Police now say he was likely one of the worst pedophiles in British history. The accusations were first aired by ITV but it was later revealed that the BBC shelved a report by its own flagship news program Newsnight into the Savile scandal. 

Thompson’s role in shutting down the program has been openly questioned by his new staff at the Times.

“How likely is it that (Thompson) knew nothing?” outspoken New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan wrote in October.

“His integrity and decision-making are bound to affect The Times and its journalism — profoundly. It’s worth considering now whether he is the right person for the job, given this turn of events.”

Sullivan said the paper must aggressively investigate Thompson’s role in the affair.

Maybe the Times could investigate its own biases against Israel. The Beeb actually had enough integrity to hire an outsider to do that (although they have since suppressed the report). After all, the pot shouldn't be calling the kettle black....