Few institutions in American journalism carry the historical prestige of The New York Times. Once dubbed “The Newspaper of Record,” the Times has long been associated with elite East Coast intellect, rigorous reporting, and careful editorial scrutiny. Its slogan, “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” implies sober impartiality, reasoned analysis, and dedication to truth.
But behind the gray veneer of objectivity lies a deep ideological drift. Over the last two decades—and with dramatic acceleration during the Trump era—the Times has transformed from a newspaper that sought to report events with fairness and balance into a vehicle for progressive moral activism, driven not just by editorial choices but by a fundamental shift in worldview. Its headlines, op-eds, hiring decisions, and cultural framing consistently reflect the moral assumptions of the secular progressive elite: relativistic, globalist, and steeped in identity-based grievance narratives.
This installment of Media Hall of Shame analyzes how The New York Times uses its influence to shape American thought in ways that undermine biblical values, patriotic loyalty, and basic journalistic integrity. From its ownership structure to its framing of religion, race, sexuality, and power, the Times offers a textbook case of Cultural Marxist (woke) infiltration into legacy media.
Ownership and Worldview
The New York Times is owned by The New York Times Company, a publicly traded entity controlled by the Sulzberger family through a special class of shares that grants them majority voting power. The current publisher, A.G. Sulzberger, inherited the role from his father, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., continuing a dynastic hold over the paper’s ideological direction. This family control has preserved not just the brand’s prestige but also its increasingly leftward editorial trajectory.
Though technically beholden to shareholders, the Times enjoys immense cultural and financial insulation. Its elite readership, institutional subscribers, and prestige advertising allow it to survive even when alienating vast segments of Middle America. The paper’s editorial board and top brass reflect the values of coastal academic liberalism: cosmopolitanism, environmentalism, sexual liberation, religious skepticism, and technocratic governance.
This ownership and cultural positioning allow the Times to operate as an ideological gatekeeper. It doesn’t merely report the news—it curates what is allowed to be considered newsworthy by the professional-managerial class. In this way, the Times plays an outsized role in shaping the moral consensus of academia, corporations, and government bureaucracies.
Typical Claims and Outlook
The New York Times consistently frames its reporting through the lens of progressive moral frameworks, often posing leftist assumptions as neutral truth. Its language choices reflect value-laden judgments: “reproductive rights” instead of “abortion,” “gender-affirming care” instead of “sex change procedures,” “racial equity” instead of “colorblindness.” While claiming objectivity, the Times increasingly sees its role as one of moral clarity and advocacy, especially on social issues.
It gives platform and prominence to voices aligned with intersectionality, systemic oppression narratives, and postmodern redefinitions of truth. This is not simply opinion content—it pervades the news desk itself. Reporters are often activists with bylines, and many internal staff members have pressured management to cancel speakers, fire columnists, or spike stories that don’t conform to progressive orthodoxy.
Traditional morality, particularly Christian sexual ethics or pro-life convictions, is treated with suspicion or outright hostility. The paper rarely gives space to thoughtful conservative views except to caricature them. In its worldview, religion is best appreciated as a sociological artifact or a political tool—not as a source of divine truth.
Issue-by-Issue Breakdown
The position of a media outlet on these twenty issues serves as good litmus tests to determine whether the outlet belongs on the woke, left, “Progressive” side of the political aisle or the right, conservative political side of the aisle.
It is evident that this media outlet belongs on the left side of the aisle.
1. Election Integrity and Voter Laws
The Times depicts nearly all Republican efforts to tighten election procedures—like requiring voter ID or banning ballot harvesting—as acts of “voter suppression.” Articles frequently invoke the Jim Crow South, suggesting racism as a motive without substantiating claims of disenfranchisement.
2. Abortion and Reproductive Rights
The Times treats abortion as a fundamental human right and often describes pro-life legislation as dangerous, cruel, or religiously motivated extremism. It largely ignores the humanity of the unborn and the psychological consequences for post-abortive women.
3. Gender Identity and Transgender Policies
The paper affirms radical gender ideology, often referring to males as “trans women” without qualification. Coverage favors activists and doctors who promote hormonal and surgical interventions for minors, and dismisses critics as bigots or misinformation spreaders.
4. Race and Systemic Racism
Race is one of the defining lenses of The New York Times. Its infamous 1619 Project sought to reframe American history around slavery, claiming the nation’s founding purpose was to preserve white supremacy. The paper routinely attributes disparities in education, income, and criminal justice to racism, often ignoring cultural, moral, or economic explanations.
5. Climate Change and Energy Policy
The Times portrays climate change as a civilization-ending crisis, requiring sweeping changes to industry, transportation, and even personal behavior. It favors regulation, global accords, and lifestyle interventions over economic balance or technological innovation like nuclear energy.
6. Immigration and Border Security
The Times tends to frame illegal immigration as a humanitarian issue, often downplaying the legal, economic, and national security concerns raised by border enforcement advocates. Headlines highlight deportations, family separations, and asylum seekers but rarely focus on drug trafficking, cartel influence, or the strain on local services.
7. Israel and the Middle East Conflict
The New York Times has long demonstrated a subtle but consistent bias against Israel, often giving prominence to Palestinian narratives while downplaying Israel’s security concerns. Its coverage emphasizes Israeli “settlements,” “occupation,” and “disproportionate” military responses. Rarely does the paper explore the antisemitism of Hamas or the complex religious and historical stakes of the region from a pro-Israel point of view.
8. Second Amendment and Gun Control
The Times is a staunch advocate for gun control, favoring bans on so-called “assault weapons,” expanded red-flag laws, and magazine limits. Stories of lawful defensive gun use are rare, while stories highlighting gun ownership as a public health threat are common.
9. LGBTQ+ Rights and Religious Liberty
The paper consistently champions LGBTQ+ causes and portrays opposition as religious fanaticism or hate-based discrimination. Legal cases involving Christian business owners or religious exemptions are covered with open skepticism, if not outright disdain.
10. COVID-19 Policy and Mandates
During the pandemic, the Times advocated lockdowns, vaccine mandates, school closures, and mask usage, often with little attention to dissenting scientific views. Its coverage frequently framed disagreement as ignorance or selfishness. The long-term consequences of such policies have received only minor retrospective acknowledgment.
11. Policing and Criminal Justice
The Times has fully embraced the systemic racism narrative in policing. Coverage of controversial police shootings typically emphasizes race before facts are verified. Articles tend to focus on reform, defunding, and “reimagining” public safety, with little examination of rising crime rates or the consequences of soft-on-crime policies.
12. Education and Parental Rights
The Times often frames parental objections to school curricula—on CRT, gender ideology, or sexual content—as part of a far-right moral panic. It supports the autonomy of educators and school boards over parents’ rights, and criticizes movements for school choice or curriculum transparency.
13. Censorship and Big Tech
The Times supports content moderation on social media, especially for topics related to elections, COVID, or gender issues. It framed the Hunter Biden laptop story as potential misinformation, echoed the “Russian disinformation” narrative, and later gave only limited coverage to its authentication.
14. January 6 and Political Violence
The paper describes the Capitol riot of January 6 as an “insurrection” and an existential threat to democracy. In contrast, the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots are described in terms of protest, activism, and social justice—despite widespread violence, arson, and fatalities.
15. Corporate Wokeness and ESG
The Times supports ESG and DEI initiatives and often frames critics as reactionaries who fear social progress. It presents “woke capitalism” as a positive evolution of corporate social responsibility, ignoring backlash from consumers, employees, or shareholders.
16. Hunter Biden and Political Corruption
The Times delayed authenticating the Hunter Biden laptop for over a year, despite mounting evidence. Even after verification, its coverage has been cautious, with limited investigation into whether President Biden was involved in influence peddling. It shows far more investigative energy toward Trump’s business dealings than toward Biden family finances.
17. Trump and the Republican Party
Donald Trump is routinely described in apocalyptic terms. The Times portrays Trump and his supporters as uniquely dangerous, anti-democratic, and morally deficient. Conservative populism is treated not as a legitimate political movement but as a pathological symptom of American decline.
18. Affirmative Action and Racial Preferences
The Times editorial board opposed the Supreme Court’s decision to end race-based admissions and claimed it would harm diversity and justice. Asian-American plaintiffs were often portrayed as pawns in a right-wing legal strategy rather than as students with legitimate grievances.
19. International Institutions and Sovereignty
The Times generally defends institutions like the UN, WHO, and World Economic Forum. It is critical of national sovereignty when it conflicts with global agreements, especially on climate, migration, or human rights.
20. Culture War Issues
The Times consistently sides with progressive causes in the culture war. It promotes gender-neutral language, celebrates drag shows for children, critiques the nuclear family, and portrays traditional Christian ethics as outdated or harmful.
Cultural Marxism and Ideological Influence
The New York Times may not explicitly invoke Marx or Gramsci, but its entire moral architecture reflects the foundational principles of Cultural Marxism. Instead of seeing society as composed of individuals with equal moral agency and rights under law, it sees it as a hierarchy of oppressors and oppressed, with justice being the redistribution of social capital to the latter.
This shows up in its news values: stories about race, gender, sexuality, and identity take priority over religion, patriotism, or individual virtue. History is rewritten to focus on grievances. Language is redefined to affirm ideological points (e.g., calling minors “assigned female at birth” instead of girls). Faith is replaced by therapy. Virtue is replaced by victimhood.
This ideological lens is not merely present—it is dominant. Writers like Nikole Hannah-Jones (1619 Project), Charles Blow, and Michelle Goldberg exemplify this shift. Even legacy columnists like Paul Krugman have abandoned economic objectivity in favor of partisan moralism. The Times now defines truth not as something objective and discoverable, but as something socially constructed and emotionally validated.
In short, The New York Times has become a cathedral for the new progressive orthodoxy, consecrating its pages to the tenets of Cultural Marxism cloaked in journalistic respectability.
Notable Journalists, Columnists, and Internal Scandals
While The New York Times employs hundreds of writers, editors, and correspondents, a handful of prominent figures and controversies reveal the ideological transformation of the paper.
Notable Ideological Voices
- Nikole Hannah-Jones – Architect of the 1619 Project, she has argued that America’s “true founding” was in 1619, with the arrival of enslaved Africans. Her work, though widely criticized by historians, was uncritically embraced by the Times and integrated into public school curricula before factual corrections were quietly added.
- Charles M. Blow – A hard-left columnist who frequently characterizes American conservatism as a threat to democracy and racial justice. He frames nearly every political development through race.
- Michelle Goldberg – A feminist columnist who promotes abortion rights, LGBTQ+ ideology, and gender theory with open contempt for traditional morality.
- Paul Krugman – Once a respected economist, Krugman now functions more as a Democratic partisan, frequently framing Republicans as ignorant or malicious, regardless of policy content.
- Maggie Haberman – Known for her extensive Trump coverage, Haberman walks a fine line between insider reporting and open disdain. Though skilled, her work often adopts the framing of progressive outrage.
Internal Scandals and Credibility Crises
- The 1619 Project Backlash
Despite receiving a Pulitzer Prize, the 1619 Project was roundly criticized by major historians (including several on the political Left) for factual inaccuracy and ideological slant. The Times edited core claims—such as that the American Revolution was fought to preserve slavery—without issuing formal corrections. This blurred the line between activism and journalism. - Tom Cotton Op-Ed (2020)
Senator Tom Cotton submitted an opinion piece advocating use of the military to quell nationwide riots. Internal staff at the Times revolted, declaring the piece “violence.” Despite being an elected U.S. senator offering a constitutionally grounded argument, the op-ed editor was forced to resign. This incident marked the collapse of viewpoint diversity in the editorial section. - Bret Stephens Censorship (2020–21)
Conservative-leaning columnist Bret Stephens faced internal resistance when he attempted to critique Hannah-Jones’ work and editorial choices. His piece was first pulled, then republished with edits, reflecting an atmosphere hostile to dissenting views, even within the op-ed page. - Ali Watkins Affair
National security reporter Ali Watkins was involved in a romantic relationship with a Senate Intelligence Committee staffer who became a source. While the incident raised serious concerns about conflicts of interest and national security leaks, the Times defended Watkins and faced limited consequences, leading critics to question its ethical standards. - Jayson Blair Scandal (2003)
Though older, this remains a landmark failure. Blair fabricated or plagiarized dozens of stories, exposing systemic editorial blind spots. The paper admitted failures but framed the event primarily as a personal lapse, not a systemic problem—a theme that has repeated in various forms ever since.
Conclusion: The Gospel of Progress Disguised as Journalism
The New York Times is no longer just a news outlet. It is a cultural institution that functions as a moral authority for America’s elite class. What it chooses to cover—and more importantly, how it covers—shapes the worldview of millions. But the values it champions are not neutral. They are deeply progressive, relativistic, and often hostile to traditional Christian and patriotic perspectives.
From a conservative Christian American standpoint, the Times reflects the spirit of the age: skeptical of transcendent truth, enamored with human progress, and committed to redefining good and evil according to emotional consensus and intersectional grievance. It preaches tolerance, but practices intellectual conformity. It invokes science, but silences dissent. It claims to defend democracy, while undermining the moral foundations that sustain it.
In the final analysis, The New York Times represents not just a slant in the news—but a complete worldview embedded in ink and pixels, one that must be understood, challenged, and rejected by those who still believe that truth is more than a narrative, that morality is more than politics, and that America is more than a mistake to be corrected.
S.D.G.,
Robert Sparkman
MMXXV
christiannewsjunkie@gmail.com
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