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A new tone at the paper hints at a broader change
America’s culture of free speech is in danger. So argues the New York Times editorial board in a piece published this morning.
Screengrab from NYT editorial
Citing new polling showing that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe it is a problem that ‘some Americans do not speak freely in everyday situations’ and that a majority of Americans have, over the past year, ‘held their tongue’ over fear of ‘retaliation or harsh criticism’, the board concludes that Americans ‘are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds.’
This is an odd piece for the Times to publish in 2022. ‘Free speech’ has been highly politicised since at least the late Obama years, and debates over it have tracked the progress of the ‘Great Awokening’. Since speech is rarely curtailed by the government, the debate is generally over whether private institutions should tolerate speech that violates the taboos of young, woke progressives.
Continued below.
Is the New York Times headed back to the centre?
America’s culture of free speech is in danger. So argues the New York Times editorial board in a piece published this morning.
Screengrab from NYT editorial
Citing new polling showing that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe it is a problem that ‘some Americans do not speak freely in everyday situations’ and that a majority of Americans have, over the past year, ‘held their tongue’ over fear of ‘retaliation or harsh criticism’, the board concludes that Americans ‘are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds.’
This is an odd piece for the Times to publish in 2022. ‘Free speech’ has been highly politicised since at least the late Obama years, and debates over it have tracked the progress of the ‘Great Awokening’. Since speech is rarely curtailed by the government, the debate is generally over whether private institutions should tolerate speech that violates the taboos of young, woke progressives.
Continued below.
Is the New York Times headed back to the centre?
