NYT journalist spills on 'tug of war' at paper between 'reasonable people' and 'crazier leftist s**t'
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Matthew Rosenberg described internal divisions at the New York Times between some of his "reasonable" colleagues and younger, more ideologically leftist employees in a new video released by Project Veritas Wednesday.
The video is part two of a series featuring Rosenberg, a national security correspondent for the paper. In the first part released earlier this week, Rosenberg criticized the left's response to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and mocked some of his colleagues for acting "traumatized" by the events of that day.
In part two of the hidden camera sting, he elaborated on "a real internal tug of war" at the Times between "reasonable people and some of the crazier leftist s**t that's worked its way in there."
“They're not the majority, but they're very vocal, loud minority that dominate social media and, therefore, has just hugely outsized influence," Rosenberg said of some of his colleagues.
NYT Reporter: CIA/NSA Sources Involved With Trump “Pee Tape” & "Leftist sh*t" At The Timeswww.youtube.com
Rosenberg did not identify these younger colleagues by name, but he did elaborate on how the broader American culture has impacted employees at his company, which in turn has shaped how the paper covers news stories and responds to controversies.
"So, if our broader culture is in a moment where everybody thinks they know best, that's gonna end up reflecting itself. We're part of that culture," he said in one clip. "I don't think they consciously are aware of these opinions. Like, you know, you inhabit the world you live in. This is a world right now where everybody seems to think they have the answer to everything."
In another clip he described some of the people who work for the Times as "very high-achieving, very neurotic people."
"And you can see it in how they approach the world and why they get freaked out over things. Whereas, like, the rest of us are like, 'I'm gonna go on with my life,'" he added.
The generational clash Rosenberg described has at times been seen in public, such as with the controversial firing of veteran science reporter Donald McNeil Jr., who angered younger staff by using a racial slur in a discussion with students on an educational trip to Peru in 2019. Former Times opinion writer Bari Weiss has also publicly criticized her former colleagues at the paper, whom she accused of "bullying" and creating a "hostile work environment" for those who do not conform to their leftist ideology.
When the undercover Project Veritas journalist asked about how Times articles are "skewed" by the culture at the paper, Rosenberg stated that "it's become a real problem."
"It just gets worse and worse. We have a lot of younger colleagues who don't seem to get what we do," he said.
"I mean, there are people in the company who know, there's like a — they are not necessarily the reporters, but we do have younger colleagues who like — if you come at us from a fancy Ivy League school, been in private school your whole life, there's a certain amount of indoctrination that's going on. It's subtle, but you don't realize it. And like, like the mere concept of microaggression, somebody that's — only ex — like, among normal people they don't think about it at all," Rosenberg explained.
"People have to think about it," he quickly added. "It's a subject of debate, but among a certain kind of academic, people raise that kind of question, it's just a given fact of life. And I'm just like, I don't buy, like, I don't think it is actually. But like, that kind of worldview works its way in, it's subtle but it's there. And you're still like, 'God, what the f*** are we doing here?'"
In another clip, he says that social media has played a large role in how younger people at the paper behave.
"So, you've got a small group of these elite that — basically they're bullies. Kind of privileged. I think this is where the social media piece comes into it," Rosenberg explained. "Personalities that would've been considered toxic in most places, that would've been shunned, kind of get elevated by social media because you lose the context of what they've done."
"If somebody is behaving the way they behave on Twitter in an office of 40 people, there are gonna be social repercussions for that. There's not on Twitter. You've got a hallelujah chorus cheering you on," he said.
He added, "Usually there are good-faith talks of sexism, racism, whatever, but the bad-faith stuff can be really hard to sort out in that situation."
Asked if the Times is intentionally bending to please a left-wing audience for "viewers or subscribers," Rosenberg shared that in his view, the paper is actually "alienating most subscribers."
"Most of our readership, most of our subscribers are prosperous. Most of them probably don't want to hear that they're awful people all the time," he said. "And the really woke kind of racial stuff really bugs them. They don't think a world in which everything is defined by their racial identity is a good idea."
‘What The F*ck Are We Doing Here?’: NYT Reporter Secretly Recorded Saying Indoctrinated ‘Woke’ Colleagues Are Ruining The Paper
'They're not the clearest thinkers'
NYT reporter criticizes colleagues 'traumatized' by Jan. 6 riot in hidden camera sting
New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg called media coverage of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol "overblown" and criticized his colleagues' response to the events of that day in a hidden-camera sting video released by Project Veritas.
Rosenberg, a national security correspondent for the Times, has extensively reported on the riot and accused former President Donald Trump and his supporters in conservative media of using "a furious array of rumor, innuendo, partial facts and outright lies" to create "alternative narratives" making excuses for the violent mob that trespassed at the Capitol Building. But in excerpts from a recorded conversation with one of Project Veritas' "undercover journalists," Rosenberg admitted that the left has spun a narrative too, in the opposite direction.
“It’s not a big deal as they are making it, because they were making too big a deal. They were making this an organized thing that it wasn’t,” Rosenberg said in excerpts of the video published Tuesday.
He also said that the left's overreaction to Jan. 6 gave people on the right an opportunity to downplay what happened.
"The Left's reaction to it in some places was so over the top that it gave the opening the Right needed to start introducing the idea of, 'Whoa, these people are out of control. Like it's not as big a deal as they're making it.' Cause [the Left] were making too big a deal. They were making [Jan. 6] some organized thing that it wasn't. And that gave the opening for the lunatics in the Right to be like, 'Oh, well, nothing happened here. It was just a peaceful bunch of tourists,' you know, and it's like, but nobody wants [to] hear that," he said.
He also made comments acknowledging that there were "a ton of FBI informants amongst the people who attacked the Capitol."
NYT Reporter: Jan 6 Media ‘Overreaction,’ FBI Involved; Traumatized Colleagues are "Fu*king Bit*hes" www.youtube.com
Project Veritas did not disclose when the video was recorded, but founder and CEO James O’Keefe said it was filmed around the same time Rosenberg was working on an article titled, "The Next Big Lies: Jan 6 was No Big Deal, or A Left-Wing Plot." The article was one of several features published by the Times in January for the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 riots.
In other clips from the video, Rosenberg harshly criticized some of his colleagues for acting like "f***ing b****es" by claiming to have been traumatized by the violence.
"I know I'm supposed to be traumatized, but like, all these colleagues who were in the building, and they're young and are like, 'Oh my God, it was so scary,'" Rosenberg said. "I'm like, 'F*** off.'" He also said that "[the Times is] not the kind place I can tell somebody to man up, but I kind of want to be like, 'Dude, come on, like, you were not in any danger.'"
Rosenberg was one of several journalists the Times dispatched to cover former President Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally. While he never entered the Capitol building, Rosenberg interviewed several protesters that day, including Bigo Barnett, the rioter who broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office and stole a letter from her desk.
That\u2019s Richard \u201cBigo\u201d Barnett, 60, from Gravette, Ak., showing off the personalized envelope he took from Speaker Pelosi\u2019s office. He insisted he didn\u2019t steal it \u2014 \u201cI left a quarter on her desk.\u201dpic.twitter.com/aST7MCoRwP— Matthew Rosenberg (@Matthew Rosenberg) 1609975081
In public reflections on his experience for another one of the Times features on the anniversary of the riot, he made very different statements, saying he too was "scared" by how "the most ordinary people were often the most violent." He even compared what he witnessed to overseas conflicts in military hot zones like Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I spent 15 years overseas in some fairly violent places – Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia. At moments, Jan. 6 was intense," he said in a Jan. 6, 2022, discussion with his colleagues. "Not the entire day, and certainly not everyone who was there. But there were folks in the crowd who were ready to fight."
According to Project Veritas, Rosenberg responded to the video, saying, "Will I stand by those comments? Absolutely."
In the video, O'Keefe promised to release additional videos featuring Rosenberg in the future discussing the "turmoil and inner workings of the New York Times."
Project Veritas and the New York Times are in the middle of a legal battle over whether the paper can publish certain memos and documents obtained from the nonprofit group. In a Feb. 10 court ruling, a judge said the Times could publish some documents but not other ones. Project Veritas is also suing the Times for defamation. The paper has accused Project Veritas of engaging in "deceptive practices, including the use of fake identities and hidden cameras to embarrass liberals, the news media, and others."
NY Times reporter causes uproar with viral tweet telling media to look inward over why Americans trust Joe Rogan
New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg triggered a massive response Sunday after suggesting in a viral tweet that the mainstream media look inward to discover why Americans trust Joe Rogan over traditional media.
Rogan's podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" reportedly averages about 11 million listeners per episode, making him one of the most influential personalities in the country. By comparison, the most popular talk radio programs average per week what Rogan averages per episode, while the most popular cable news shows only garner a fraction of Rogan's audience at best.
What did Rosenberg say?
As the attempts to cancel Rogan increase — attempts that are often elevated by the media (as in the case of Neil Young) — Rosenberg suggested that his peers should engage in introspection to understand why and how Rogan has amassed the following and platform that he has.
"Joe Rogan is what he is. We in the media might want to spend more time thinking about why so many people trust him instead of us," Rosenberg said.
Joe Rogan is what he is. We in the media might want to spend more time thinking about why so many people trust him instead of us.— Matthew Rosenberg (@Matthew Rosenberg) 1643574980
Rosenberg later said the purpose of his tweet was to wake up his mainstream media colleagues. He also said that Rogan should not be controlled and explained that self-reflection within the media should prompt action that improves the media's "standing" with Americans.
What was the response?
Rosenberg's appeal elicited some hateful responses, ranging from "propaganda works" to demeaning quips about middle America and insults targeting Rogan's audience, and even the same regurgitated attacks that progressives lodge against Rogan.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the "1619 Project" and a New York Times reporter, also said she did not "get" Rosenberg's question, adding in a now-deleted tweet, "We need to understand why millions of Americans don't mind the open racism?"
But a tsunami of responses praised Rosenberg for asking the question and explained that the issue is not necessarily about trust, but that Rogan is seen as honest and the media are not.
- "We don't need to trust @joerogan. He's not telling us what to think. He's simply interviewing people, letting us decide for ourselves whose views make sense. Totally different from media pundits preaching their propaganda at us every day from the same @dnc talking points memos," psychologist Geoffrey Miller responded.
- "Bingo. Calls to censor people that have taken your viewers and readers is not going to bring those viewers and readers back to you.In fact, it nearly guarantees that they will never return. Not sure why it’s so hard for the mainstream media to work through this equation," commentator Candance Owens said.
- "Not a great mystery. It’s painfully obvious to most that the corporate media outlets are, by and large, actively trying to manipulate people. It’s insulting, and boring," one person said.
- "It's because when you watch Rogan you know he may be occasionally wrong, but he is never lying or framing stories to advance an agenda. The same cannot ve (sic) said for the corporate press. Also he will talk to various types of people, not just the approved voices," another person pointed out.
- "[M]aybe because his guests are from all points of view?his agenda is to consider all sides of the issue and then express an opinion," one person observed.
- "The fact that so many people listen to Rogan instead of legacy media is less an indication of trust, and more an indication of how many people still value good faith discussion that isn't narrowly limited by a biased & dogmatic agenda. Rogan offers those discussions. You don't," another person responded.
- "The funny thing about this tweet is that it actually explains exactly why people trust Rogan more than people in the media," Soledad O'Brien observed.
Meanwhile, Glenn Greenwald observed that Hannah-Jones' reaction both perfectly demonstrates the problem with media and answers Rosenberg's question.
"In response to @AllMattNYT's earnest question of why millions of people trust Joe Rogan but not corporate media, Nikole Hannah-Jones said — get ready: it's shocking! — it's because they're all basically racist. That's as much of an 'answer' as you'll get," Greenwald said.
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