Commonwealth Policy Center

In the last several years, the New York Times has published opinion pieces from controversial figures like Vladimir Putin, Iran’s foreign minister, and a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Times even published an essay promoting the normalization of pedophilia. But when the New York Times ran a column by Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton calling for the military to bring order to violent protests, it led to a revolt by the staff. Eventually, editor James Bennet stepped down. The U.S. Military has been used in times of civil unrest to bring order to the public. What is new to this is that the paper of record will no longer allow the open debate of important issues by influential leaders. True journalism should be a guardian of free speech instead of the gatekeeper of who can speak in the first place.