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The executive editor of The New York Times has urged his staff to calm down and moderate their tone amid an explosive row over the paper’s coverage of transgender issues.
Joe Kahn wrote to all staff on Thursday, telling them their criticism of each other was damaging and unacceptable.
The row began on Wednesday, when GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, coordinated a public letter signed by celebrities and activist groups condemning the paper’s ‘irresponsible, biased coverage of transgender people’.
They singled out the science team for particular condemnation, arguing they had set about ‘undermining support for transgender youth by writing ‘just asking questions’ stories about medically approved best practices for gender-affirming healthcare’.
And they criticized the opinion desk for publishing articles by staff columnist Pamela Paul, insisting The New York Times was wrong to give ‘space for her unfounded thoughts about how LGBTQ people should describe themselves’.
Another letter, also sent on Wednesday, was signed by 1,000 current and former contributors to the paper.
‘We do not welcome, and will not tolerate, participation by Times journalists in protests organized by advocacy groups or attacks on colleagues on social media and other public forums,’ Kahn wrote in is response to staff.
Joe Kahn, the executive editor of The New York Times, on Thursday wrote to staff telling them to cease attacking each other, amid a row about their coverage of transgender issues
GLAAD parked a mobile billboard outside The New York Times’ offices in Manhattan on Wednesday
In response, on Thursday the paper published an op ed by Paul, defending the stance taken by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
Rowling has been outspoken in her criticism of transgender issues.
Kahn then published his letter, urging calm.
‘It is not unusual for outside groups to critique our coverage or to rally supporters to seek to influence our journalism,’ Kahn wrote.
‘In this case, however, members of our staff and contributors to The Times joined the effort.
‘Their protest letter included direct attacks on several of our colleagues, singling them out by name.’
Kahn said the campaign was harmful to the paper.
‘Participation in such a campaign is against the letter and spirit of our ethics policy,’ he said.
‘That policy prohibits our journalists from aligning themselves with advocacy groups and joining protest actions on matters of public policy.
‘We also have a clear policy prohibiting Times journalists from attacking one another’s journalism publicly or signaling their support for such attacks.’
Kahn defended the newspaper’s coverage of transgender issues and people in his note on Thursday.
‘Our coverage of transgender issues, including the specific pieces singled out for attack, is important, deeply reported, and sensitively written,’ he said.
The New York Times published an op-ed in defense of J.K. Rowling’s trans views a day after two open letters, signed by celebrities, campaign groups and hundreds of the paper’s own writers, accused the paper of bias in its reporting of trans issues
An op-ed by Pamela Paul (pictured right) in support of J.K. Rowling was published by the New York Times a day after two open letters criticized the paper’s coverage of trans issues. Pictured left, a billboard van parked outside the Times’ office by GLAAD, which sent one of the letters
Paul, in her article, refers to the new ‘The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling’ podcast by Megan Phelps-Roper – a former member of the notorious Westboro Baptist Church – based on nine hours of interviews with Rowling which explore her views and the backlash faced by the author.
The op-ed states: ‘As Rowling herself notes on the podcast, she’s written books where from the very first page, bullying and authoritarian behavior is held to be one of the worst of human ills’.
‘Those who accuse Rowling of punching down against her critics ignore the fact that she is sticking up for those who have silenced themselves to avoid the job loss, public vilification and threats to physical safety that other critics of recent gender orthodoxies have suffered.’
British actress Jameela Jamil was among the co-signatories of a letter published by GLAAD, an LGBTQ media advocacy organization, which accused the Times of ‘irresponsible, biased coverage of transgender people’. A second letter was also sent on Thursday by Times staff and contributors, expressing similar views
Actress Gabrielle Union also co-signed the letter sent by GLAAD, which accused the Times of ‘biased coverage’ of transgender people
The New York Times was accused by 170 of its own writers and contributors of a ‘bias’ approach to reporting on the debate around trans rights
GLAAD has repeatedly criticized J.K. Rowling’s contributions to the debate around trans rights, including the Harry Potter author’s support for single-sex spaces for biological women.
The organization’s ‘accountability project’ has a page dedicated to what it describes as Rowling’s ‘anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and discriminatory actions’.
Signatories of the GLAAD letter include a string of campaign groups, along with celebrities including Jameela Jamil, Gabrielle Union, Judd Apatow and Tommy Dorfman.
The other letter was signed by Times writers and contributors including whistleblower Chelsea Manning, who is trans, culture reporter David Itzkoff and actress Cynthia Nixon.
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