Former NY Times Columnist Rips Into the Grey Lady, Says He Left ‘Without Sorrow’

Former New York Times columnist Charles Blow said he ditched the paper “without sorrow” in February after his confidence as a writer had been “injured” during his last few years at The Grey Lady.

Blow shared those thoughts in his first post on his new Substack blog on Monday. He wrote:

My last years at the paper weren’t my most pleasant. My job went from being one I would say, earnestly, I would do for free, to one I struggled to justify doing for pay. The zombie thing that came to be published under my name had a dwindling trace of my breath in it. It was no longer fully my voice.

Blow did not go into detail about what happened behind-the-scenes at The Times that spoiled his final years there. He first joined the paper in 1994 and worked there until 2006, before returning two years later to write an opinion column — a role he held for the next 17 years.

During that time, he made it clear he was not a fan of President Donald Trump, calling him a “racist” in 2018 before arguing in 2022 the commander-in-chief should be prosecuted for the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot. In 2023, Blow called Trump “dangerous” in a column — and Trump responded, blasting Blow as a “racist” and “sick degenerate” who hates America in a post on Truth Social.

Blow, on his new Substack on Monday, said he was “ambivalent” about writing essays by the time he exited the NYT.

“Frankly, my confidence was injured in that space, and confidence is essential for an essayist. The reader can sense hesitation, unease and lack of conviction just as they can recognize the muscularity of thought and the sure-footedness of a well-crafted phrase,” he wrote, suggesting his voice was being stifled.

Overall, Blow said his time at The Times was “weighted towards the good,” despite the sour ending. He added he is still pulling for the paper during a “era of terrifying contraction” for traditional media outlets, saying he wants it to “not only survive but to prosper.”