The Impact of The New York Times' Trans Coverage
Thousands of New York Times contributors signed an open letter this February that raised concerns about alleged imbalance and bias in the paper’s coverage of trans people and issues. This month, the co-authors released another letter — this time addressed directly to Times’ publisher A.G. Sulzberger. Contributors continue to criticize both the Times’ coverage of trans people and issues, which they say is biased and harmful, as well as the Times’ response to the letter. Staffers who signed the letter in support have reported being disciplined, and anti-trans activists and lawmakers have continued to cite Times coverage in their justifications for bans on gender-affirming care.
We speak again with Harron Walker, freelance journalist and letter co-author, about the state of the Times. Listen to our previous conversation with Walker about the letter here.
In response to detailed questions about the allegations in the letters and the Times' response to the contributor letter, the New York Times' director of external communications, Charlie Stadtlander, stated:
"The Times received two letters nearly simultaneously on the morning of Feb. 15. Our numerous public comments on the matter – both on that day and since – address the comments expressed in both letters, which were presented to us in coordination.
As we have stated since February, we reject the claim that our coverage is biased. The role of an independent news organization is to report on issues of public importance and follow the facts where they lead. We’ve reported fully and fairly on transgender issues ranging from challenges and prejudice faced by the community to the fight for expanding rights and freedoms to open debates about care. Our coverage has been rigorously reported and edited, respectful of the people we’re covering and sensitive to the moment. The New York Times published hundreds of articles -- with a word count of over 300,000 -- specifically on discrimination against transgender people and/or anti-transgender legislation in the last two years."
