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LEFT-CENTER BIAS

These media sources have a slight to moderate liberal bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information, but may require further investigation. See all Left-Center sources. Overall, we rate the New York Times Left-Center biased based on word and story selection that moderately favors the left, but highly factual and considered one of the most reliable sources for news information due to proper sourcing and well-respected journalists/editors. The failed fact checks that occurred were on Op-Ed’s and not straight news reporting. Detailed Report Factual Reporting: HIGH

Country: USA

World Press Freedom Rank: USA 45/180

History

The New York Times (sometimes abbreviated to NYT) is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18, 1851, by The New York Times Company.

The New York Times was originally founded by U.S. journalist and politician Henry Jarvis Raymond and former banker George Jones. Henry Jarvis Raymond is the founding editor and according to an NYT article, Raymond stated the political position of New York Times as “We shall be Conservative, in all cases where we think Conservatism essential to the public good; — and we shall be Radical in everything which may seem to us to require radical treatment and radical reform.”

The NYT was initially published by Raymond and Jones & Company. Raymond was also prominent in forming the Republican Party during the 1850s. George Jones who was a banker and politician solicited funds to launch the newspaper. Another early investor to the paper is the first president of Wells Fargo & Company, and the founder of the United States Express Company, and director of the American Express Co., Edwin B. Morgan. The New York Times was purchased by Adolph Ochs in 1896. Ochs had one daughter Iphigene Bertha Ochs and she married Arthur Hays Sulzberger, who became publisher of the NYT after Ochs died. Dean Baquet is the current Executive Editor.

On 7/14/2020, Opinion columnist Bari Weiss resigned from the New York Times stating “Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times. But Twitter has become its ultimate editor.”

Read our profile on United States government and media.

Funded by / Ownership

The New York Times is controlled by the Ochs-Sulzberger family through Class B shares. Since 1967, the company has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYT. Class B shares are those that are held privately. The owner and publisher of the New York Times are The New York Times Company and the Chairman is Arthur Gregg “A.G.” Sulzberger, succeeding his father Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. He is the sixth member of the Ochs/Sulzberger family to serve as publisher since the newspaper was purchased by Adolph Ochs in 1896.

Mark Thompson became president and chief executive officer of The New York Times Company in 2012 and the current board of directors can be found at this link.

According to Forbes, during the financial crisis of 2009, Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helú loaned The New York Times Company $250 million. The loan was paid back in 2011 and as of 2017, Slim sold $10 million worth of shares in The New York Times. According to a Bloomberg article, “President Trump accused Slim of using his ownership stake in the Times to influence the paper’s negative coverage of him. The Times and a representative for Slim deny this claim.” The New York Times is funded through advertising and subscription fees.

Analysis / Bias

The News York Times’ coverage includes News (World News, National News, Business News) Opinion Pieces, Editorials, Arts, Movies, Theater, Travel, NYC Guide, Food, Home & Garden, and Fashion & Style.

A Politico article states Donald Trump has frequently criticized The New York Times on his Twitter account. Trump labels the NYT as “fake news”, “naive”, “dumb”, and “the failing New York Times.” However, CNBC reports the company has shown strong growth by adding 157,000 new digital subscriptions in the last quarter of 2017.

The NYT looks at the issues from a progressive perspective and is regarded as “liberal”. According to a Pew Research Centers’ media polarization report “the ideological Placement of Each Source’s Audience” places the audience for the New York Times as “consistently liberal.” Further, since 1960 The New York Times has only endorsed Democratic Presidential Candidates.



In review, the NYT utilizes emotionally loaded language in their headlines such as “Trump Again Falsely Blames Democrats for His Separation Tactic” and “A Financier’s Profit-Minded Mission to Open a Channel Between Kushner and North Korea”, however, they use credible sources such as law.cornell.edu, Financial Times, and The Washington Post. Story selection is typically balanced, however, wording tends to lean left in most cases.

A factual search shows the New York Times has made false claims in reporting, but always makes corrections to those stories as soon as new information is available. Further, failed fact checks occurred on Op-Ed pages and not straight news reporting.

Overall, we rate the New York Times Left-Center biased based on word and story selection that moderately favors the left, but highly factual and considered one of the most reliable sources for news information due to proper sourcing and well-respected journalists/editors. The failed fact checks that occurred were on Op-Ed’s and not straight news reporting. (5/18/2016) Update (M. Huitsing 07/15/2020)