New York Times economics columnist Paul Krugman says he left the paper because it was ending his newsletter, reports Charles Kaiser of Columbia Journalism Review.
Kaiser writes, “Kingsbury said it was ‘patently untrue’ that Krugman’s newsletter had been killed, although it stopped appearing last October. She emailed him on September 30 to urge him to stay at the paper, and offered to let him keep the newsletter, but without guaranteeing its weekly frequency. She told him he could ‘use it to weigh in when you and your editor agree that it’s necessary.’ And there was a condition: if he wanted to keep the newsletter, the frequency of his column would have to be cut in half, to once a week.
“Krugman rejected that offer.
“Times opinion columnists traditionally wrote twice a week, but Kingsbury noted that most now appear only once a week.
“The offer to reinstate the newsletter did nothing to placate Krugman, who had another serious complaint. ‘I’ve always been very, very lightly edited on the column,’ he said. ‘And that stopped being the case. The editing became extremely intrusive. It was very much toning down of my voice, toning down of the feel, and a lot of pressure for what I considered false equivalence.’ And, increasingly, attempts ‘to dictate the subject.'”
Media News
Columnist Krugman on why he left NY Times
January 24, 2025
Posted by Chris Roush
New York Times economics columnist Paul Krugman says he left the paper because it was ending his newsletter, reports Charles Kaiser of Columbia Journalism Review.
Kaiser writes, “Kingsbury said it was ‘patently untrue’ that Krugman’s newsletter had been killed, although it stopped appearing last October. She emailed him on September 30 to urge him to stay at the paper, and offered to let him keep the newsletter, but without guaranteeing its weekly frequency. She told him he could ‘use it to weigh in when you and your editor agree that it’s necessary.’ And there was a condition: if he wanted to keep the newsletter, the frequency of his column would have to be cut in half, to once a week.
“Krugman rejected that offer.
“Times opinion columnists traditionally wrote twice a week, but Kingsbury noted that most now appear only once a week.
“The offer to reinstate the newsletter did nothing to placate Krugman, who had another serious complaint. ‘I’ve always been very, very lightly edited on the column,’ he said. ‘And that stopped being the case. The editing became extremely intrusive. It was very much toning down of my voice, toning down of the feel, and a lot of pressure for what I considered false equivalence.’ And, increasingly, attempts ‘to dictate the subject.'”
Read more here.
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