New York Times Hounded for Credulous Headline on Trump Crackdown Threats, Teargassing Peaceful Protestors: ‘Just Pathetic’

New York Times print editor Tom Jolly previewed his paper’s front page for Tuesday, but its highly credulous top headline framing of President Donald Trump’s militarized crackdown threats and teargassing of peaceful Washington, D.C. protestors unleashed a torrent of online criticism.

“As Chaos Spreads, Trump Vows to ‘End It Now'” the Times’ banner headline read, prompting many media watchers to fire back at its White House press release-like nature.

Tomorrow’s @nytimes tonight (first edition):

As Chaos Spreads, Trump Vows to “End It Now”#nytimes pic.twitter.com/D4vV55KKEY

— Tom Jolly (@TomJolly) June 2, 2020

The journalistically dubious headline evoked a similarly administration-friendly effort from last summer, when the Times put a grossly generous polish on a presidential speech in the wake of two mass shootings that targeted minorities: “Trump Urges Unity vs. Racism.” That headline, which the executive editor Dean Baquet later acknowledged was “bad,” was subsequently changed for later print editions into: “Assailing Hate But Not Guns.” Online, the Times ultimately went with a much more contextualized “Trump Condemns White Supremacy But Stops Short of Major Gun Controls.”

After such a vocal, overwhelming backlash to this latest Trump headline by the Times, a 2nd edition revision could be in the works on Tuesday as well.

Just pathetic. An insult to readers and everyone else. https://t.co/6MTwpSdZeS

— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) June 2, 2020

If the New York Times thinks this accurately describes what happened today, I have no idea what country they’ve been living in – they should just let Trump write their headlines. https://t.co/zZn7H5cZiC

— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) June 2, 2020

Saying that the Times has learned zero lessons in the year since the disgraceful “Trump Urges Unity vs Racism” front page would be unfair to the countless people and institutions that struggle to learn, but at least try. https://t.co/me5LtPfxkf

— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) June 2, 2020

What the actual hell is the NYT thinking https://t.co/ItvPW1c0mV

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 2, 2020

So the fact that the president of the United States ordered that Americans assembled in a public park be tear gassed so that he could have a photo op — that doesn’t make the front page tomorrow? https://t.co/1VxkGSXQ6r

— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) June 2, 2020

As I tell my students, beware of journalism that is accurate but not true. This is accurate yet profoundly not true. https://t.co/RIx7KxcYUb

— Dan Kennedy (@dankennedy_nu) June 2, 2020

This one will be taught in journalism schools. https://t.co/4EmX7WrF7R

— Andrew Beatty (@AndrewBeatty) June 2, 2020

They brutalized peaceful protesters for a photo op. https://t.co/oTfFoEUoAr

— Matt Pearce ? (@mattdpearce) June 2, 2020

Damn this is bad. NYT headline parrots Trump’s propaganda and makes him look like a courageous strongman. This is worse than “both sides-ing” – this is Fox-like. https://t.co/8qvY4GZ7o1

— Ezra Levin (@ezralevin) June 2, 2020

Did Donald Trump write this headline, @nytimes? https://t.co/zGqySE3fMM

— John Iadarola (@johniadarola) June 2, 2020

The NYT headline-writers are giving Trump exactly what he wants tonight. https://t.co/3qJvJrtYMz

— Dan Fagin (@danfagin) June 2, 2020

Journalists are being beaten and jailed, Trump threatened to murder US citizens, and this is how they frame it. https://t.co/Xw27p6KB0c

— April Wolfe (@AWolfeful) June 2, 2020

Guys. I respect the hell out of you. Do yourself a favor and clean this up for edition #2. https://t.co/kgQMQ7W6GF

— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) June 2, 2020

Why stop there, how about “Big Dick Cool Man (Many Muscles) Vows To Kick Wimpy Butts of Spooky Bad Guys” https://t.co/UEyjMdd23X

— Dan Gurewitch (@DanGurewitch) June 2, 2020

Hey, @nytimes this looks like authoritarian state media. Try again for the second edition! https://t.co/DO8sgob90E

— Will Bunch Sign Up For My Newsletter (@Will_Bunch) June 2, 2020

They missed the story and did the country a huge disservice. Better headline: Trump Sends Troops Into American Cities…(Subhead) Peaceful Protestors Attacked to Make Way for Trump Photo Op https://t.co/WVTc4cwi9e

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) June 2, 2020

Holy fucking crap – the Times is pro-fascist. This is it, they’ve crossed over to full compliance with the regime. https://t.co/eBqU4tC4N4

— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) June 2, 2020

that’s what you went with? this is unconscionable. https://t.co/5W35BkZcfO

— Nima Shirazi (@WideAsleepNima) June 2, 2020

Chaos is bad, ending it is good. In this headline, Trump is presented as a force for good. https://t.co/KgwslMv79i

— Adam Jentleson ? (@AJentleson) June 2, 2020

‘New York Times’ Hounded for Credulous Front Page Headline on Trump’s Militarized Crackdown Threats, Teargassing of Peaceful Protestors: ‘Insult to Readers and Everyone Else’
http://mediaite.com/a/ababf

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