New York Times journalist reflects on digging into his own newsroom
While researching four decades of the paper, Adam Nagourney encountered 'jaw-dropping' records
Four decades of The New York Times in 592 pages.
That’s in a new book, “The Times,” by veteran journalist Adam Nagourney, who has been working at the paper since 1996.
Inspired by Gay Talese’s 2007 book on a similar topic, Nagourney said he learned a ton mining the newspaper of record’s history.
At a book launch in Brooklyn last week, Nagourney shared some highlights on his access to records, “awkward moments” while interviewing his colleagues, diversity in the newsroom, Jayson Blair and Judith Miller scandals, the digital transformation and the paper’s future.
“The book starts in 1977, I didn’t know what The New York Times would look like at the end,” the national politics reporter said. “I didn’t know whether it would exist in the same form it had existed. It wasn’t crazy to think it would be out of business.”
Nagourney put together the book using thousands of public and private documents from archives. The Times donated an archive of its company records produced between 1838 and 2006 to the New York Public Library in 2007. Top editors, writers and executives were asked to turn over their working files.
One of the most remarkable revelations from Nagourney’s research was the content of former Executive Editor Abe Rosenthal’s private diary, he said. In it, Nagourney discovered a passage confirming Rosenthal's homophobic views.
The entry read, “I would hire a homosexual to cover fear and art … but we’ll never hire one to cover the State Department or the White House,” Nagourney said. “Gay people form cliques, and these cliques in the newsroom are really dangerous.”
Upon unearthing that, Nagourney said, “My jaw dropped.”
Asked about how the working environment for women at the paper has evolved, Nagourney highlighted Betsy Wade, the first female copy editor who led a class-action sex discrimination lawsuit against the paper.
Wade alleged that The Times systematically discriminated against women when it came to hiring and promotions.
Nagourney recounted Wade’s experience, including an elevator conversation with a senior executive who said to her: “We are not in a habit of promoting people who sue us.”
The lawsuit, which sought fair pay and better opportunities for women, ended in a settlement. According to the newspaper’s 2022 diversity and inclusion report, women made up 55% of its newsroom.
“There’s a lot of women I spoke to who said that they think they got a job there because of the groundbreaking suit that was won,” Nagourney said.
The book touched on the paper’s coverage of pivotal events such as 9/11, the explosion of the U.S. Challenger and the infamous Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal.
(Blair was a national reporter and editor in 2003 when he was caught fabricating and plagiarizing multiple of his 600 stories. He resigned after being on the job for four years.)
While many argued the Blair scandal caused more damage to the paper's reputation, Nagourney posited a different perspective.
He believed the Iraq coverage by Judith Miller, which was discovered to be false, did more long-term harm to the paper. Nagourney said the responsibility rested with the editors, however, whose role is to prevent such misinformation from being published.
“They kept pointing fingers at each other, but ultimately it’s on them,” he said. “You can say it’s Judith Miller’s fault, but editors are there to stop that kind of stuff from getting into the newspaper.”
On the digital transformation, The New York Times website has been paywalled since 2011. Nagourney said prior to working there, he thought that the organization was resistant to change. But he said there are always people pressing for change.
“I don’t think the paper (just) wants to be first in some of these innovations,” he said. “It took a while, but I think at a certain point, people just realized what the future was.”
According to the paper, it has about 9.20 million digital-only subscribers as of August, the highest among other top papers including The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. The Times aims to reach 15 million by the end of 2027.
The era of physical print products may be on the horizon. Nagourney guessed The Times’ print version will likely persist for another 10-15 years, tops.
While the print edition still makes “a decent amount of money,” according to Nagourney, the news outlet’s primary focus has shifted to its digital platform.
The paper’s digital revenue exceeded print for the first time in the second quarter of 2020.
“When people come into the newsroom every morning, they’re specifically instructed not to think about what the print edition will look like” but what will be previewed on the website, Nagourney said.
This shift is evident in the decision to have the print edition’s deadline moved to 3 p.m. “If you’re in California, where I live, that means you get up, and your story is due,” he said.
Asked if Nagourney’s worried aspiring, young journalists who read his book might have second thoughts about their career choice, he said he hopes they still find this industry “fun and rewarding,” despite the challenges posed by various scandals.
“It screwed up a lot, a lot,” he said. “But I just think they hold themselves to the highest ideal in general. I mean, there are other reasons why people don’t want to go into journalism, but I hope my book is not one of them.”
What I’m reading:
Inside look at NY Public Radio’s firing of 20 staffers amid $10M deficit — Hell Gate NYC
I find documents officials want to keep hidden. Here’s how. — The Washington Post
The remaking of The Wall Street Journal — The New York Times
Society of Professional Journalists ‘is broke’ due to membership decline — Nieman Lab
Facing a financial shortfall, SPJ turns to its foundation for support — Poynter