He called on journalists to stay away from debates on social media

New York Times editor-in-chief: Very concerned about democracy in America

Joseph Kahn.

From the source

The New York Times' newly appointed executive editor, Joseph Kahn, spoke about how former President Donald Trump's disinformation campaign gained traction.

In an interview with the German magazine "Der Spiegel", he discussed the work of the media, which he considers a competitor to his newspaper;

He advised journalists not to engage in battles on social media, and the following is the text of the interview:

■Fox News, the former president and many Republicans continue to spread the lie that Trump was cheated in the 2020 elections. The Republican Party of Texas, the second largest US state, has included this in its official platform by declaring Joe Biden illegitimate.

What does this mean for the state of democracy in the United States?

■■ I am very concerned about democracy in my country;

The former president and his supporters are running a very aggressive campaign, using the wrong idea of ​​stolen elections, to mobilize their supporters and raise funds.

They generate hatred that causes people to engage in politics.

Some of these people appear to be winning, too, the Republican primaries in the fall midterms.

■ Across the country, candidates who question the legitimacy of Biden's victory are making inroads.

■■ Yes, and some may be in power after the 2024 presidential election, which will allow them to undermine the integrity of the electoral process at the US level.

■ What can the media, such as the New York Times, do about it?

■■ We do our best to highlight these topics and engage a larger audience in evidence-based reports.

But again, there are some media outlets that base their propaganda reports on behalf of a political party, and spread misinformation.

This will likely lead to a distorted situation in the elections of 2024, in which a candidate who has not been legally elected continues to claim victory.

■ Media organizations are currently struggling to achieve pluralism and diversity within their ranks.

And two-thirds of your readers are white.

And you yourself are white, which led to criticism when you were appointed, in April.

How do you deal with that?

■■ We are constantly increasing our team.

Our newsroom is noticeably more diverse today than it was five years ago, both in the leadership and among the ranks of journalists.

And we've improved diversity in terms of gender or ethnicity.

Creative journalists need to reflect the country and the world we cover.

■ The source of the permanent conflict is the presence of journalists on Twitter.

Media organizations have encouraged their employees to be active on social media.

Was this a mistake?

■■ Some reporters may feel compelled to be there to get information and ideas, and to develop their journalistic expertise.

And we're not asking them to stop doing that, just because it might make sense to have this activity a little less.

■ What does "a little less" mean?

■■ Avoid going to these “rabbit holes”, where media critics accuse you of being stupid or biased.

And if you get into it too much, you might lose your journalistic instincts.

Twitter's audience is small.

■ Small in size, but powerful in sound.

■■ Allowing these people to overly influence what we do and how we do it sounds crazy to me.

And when we engage in this fight, we find ourselves in situations like the one we saw in the Washington Post, where the newspaper's reporters attacked each other on Twitter.

■ You are now celebrating a major digital milestone with The New York Times, with 9.1 million subscribers.

Is there any potential for growth?

■■ We want people to see The New York Times as providing a solution to different problems in their lives.

For example, we invested in a sports and cooking site.

Our readers can get the news, but they can, too, spend time with the games, or let us help them think about what to cook.

There are media that base their propaganda reports on behalf of a political party, and spread misinformation.

Trump and his supporters are running a very aggressive campaign, using the wrong idea of ​​stolen elections, to mobilize their supporters and raise money.

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