‘Cancel culture’ on display
Freedom of speech at NYT
Regarding “Truth may set you free — or get you fired,” (A21, July 15): The term “cancel culture” may not be familiar to many people but it is on full display at the New York Times. Several of its employees have resigned recently because of the cancel culture evolving at that newspaper which was eloquently expressed by Kathleen Parker in an op-ed piece a few days ago.
Instead of printing all credible opinions, this paper has begun to print only those that they agree with. An op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton favoring the use of troops to quell riots which was approved for publication by an editorial page editor who was then reassigned. More recently, an employee named Bari Weiss resigned because at the New York Times “the truth isn’t a process of collective discovery but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job it is to inform everyone else.”
The New York Times has always been a left-leaning organization but it may be attempting to be in the forefront of a movement that would like to cancel all speech that does not conform to the standards of a few. Philip Tereskiewicz, Houston
Front-page news
Regarding “Trump camp aims at CDC, testing cash,” (A35, July 19): I read that the “Trump administration is trying to block billions of dollars for states to conduct testing and contact tracing in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks said Saturday.”
The story went on to add that, “The administration also is trying to block billions of dollars that GOP senators want to allocate for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and billions more for the Pentagon and State Department to address the pandemic at home and abroad, the people said.”
How is this not front-page news? The president is trying to block funding for measures to fight the epidemic, and you bury this item at the bottom of an inside page?
Setting aside a section for coronavirus is not a replacement for giving news like this the priority it deserves. Stella Fitzgibbons, The Woodlands
Children and coronavirus
Regarding “85 infants test positive for COVID-19,” (A2, July 19): What a surprise to read 85 infants in Corpus Christi have tested positive for COVID-19! Guess this blows Sen. John Cornyn’s theory that children can’t get it. We should all be laughing at this joker’s naivety, but this really isn’t a laughing matter. Kathy Stockton, Houston