New York Times editor says Trump has put his reporters’ lives at risk. Dean Baquet decries abuse of journalists and defends not calling president racist
The executive editor of the New York Times has accused Donald Trump of putting his reporters’ lives at risk by subjecting them to personal abuse and describing them as “enemies of the people”.
Baquet’s comments in an interview with the Guardian reflect Trump’s lengthy history of abuse towards journalists in general and the New York Times in particular. They echo comments from the newspaper’s publisher, AG Sulzberger, who has also clashed with Trump over his treatment of the media. Last year Sulzberger said he had told Trump in a meeting that “this inflammatory language is contributing to a rise in threats against journalists and will lead to violence”.
Story continuesBaquet, the first black American to have edited the newspaper, said he was reluctant to allow his reporters to ascribe value judgments to the president, despite his string of outbursts. “I will tell you the most powerful writing I’ve ever seen about race, as a black man who grew up in the south, did not use the word ‘racist’. It quoted people saying what they had to say, and described the world they live in. And you made your own judgment. And the judgment was pretty clear.
He acknowledged making mistakes in the 2016 election, having failed to grasp the anger in the US that led to the election of Trump, but said he was constantly fighting against pressure to “take a full-bodied side” against the president. “The way I see it is, our job is to cover the world with tremendous curiosity. And with a desire to understand the people who voted for Donald Trump and why they voted for Donald Trump. I think some of our readers want us to dismiss some of those people.
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