Why We Need The New York Times
Columbia University just recently announced the winners of the 94th annual Pulitzer Prizes, and once again, the New York Times finishes near the top. With the three for this year included, The New York Times, in total, has won 107 Pulitzer Prizes since its inception in 1851. This is by far the most of any other news organization. I think the newspaper with the second most Pulitzers is the Washington Post with slightly over 50.
I’m sure that there will be Conservatives who read this and will say that since the awards are given out by the "liberal elitist" Columbia University, that this somehow devalues the award. The fact of the matter is, the Pulitzer Prize is an extremely prestigious award to win, and I feel is a good method of determining which papers are doing the best investigative journalism.
There is a reason why the New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal are considered “newspapers of record,” and held in high regard. These newspapers are considered the “elite media,” and carry by far the most clout with decision makers in Washington D.C. According to, Political Science, An Introduction, my college political science textbook, readers of these newspapers are, “generally wealthier and better educated and have much more influence than readers of hometown papers.”
I think that most people don’t really understand exactly how newspaper organizations work. Most hometown or local newspapers do not do any type of investigative journalism. Investigative journalism can be very expensive. The newspaper has to hire better journalists, and they usually have to have many different bureaus in many different places in order to thoroughly cover the news. Most local newspapers will have their own journalists covering local events, but their national and international news generally comes from a wire service like the Associated Press. This is also why articles in the New York Times are generally two to three times longer than articles in local papers, the reporting goes much more in depth.
The lack of investigative journalism is also a major problem in television news. New stories on television often have to be covered very quickly, usually in less than five minutes. Television news stories are also selected based on catchy stories that are junk news, like Tea Party members spitting on Congressmen. While these stories are entertaining, they don’t really tell us anything about the issues. Crap sells, hence all these stupid reality shows like Rock of Love and Big Brother (both of which I am embarrassed to admit that I have watched). This is exactly why people who read the “elite” newspapers are better educated.
The purpose of this post is to point out two things. One, I think that the New York Times is a magnificent paper that everyone should try and read. Even if you are a Conservative or a Republican, the quality of news coverage in the Times is unmatched. The editorials and op-ed pages generally sway to the left (although they do have two or three Conservative op-ed writers) but the news stories try to stay as accurate to the story as they possibly can, hence all the Pulitzer Prize winnings.
The other point that I am trying to make is that those of us who enjoy good investigative journalism should be happy to support these organizations. I currently subscribe to the Times Reader. It is kind of like a virtual paper with a great user friendly layout that costs me twenty dollars a month. I would subscribe to the actual paper, but it is very expensive. I would much rather pay a monthly or a pay-per-click fee and get good investigative journalism, then have everything free and full of crap. I understand that I may very well be in a minority, but I know there are enough of us out there to keep organizations like the New York Times alive.
It is important to support the newspapers that you enjoy. If we don’t, all news is going to be attention grabbing headline crap that is going to negatively affect us as a country. Without news organizations like the New York Times, there will be no one to hold politicians accountable. Without news organizations like the New York Times, the Pentagon Papers or the Watergate scandal may have never come out. Also keep in mind that most news sites like the Huffington Post get a significant portion of their stories from newspaper sites. Without these organizations, sites like Huffington Post will no longer be able to get their stories out to large audiences. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Liberal, or Conservative, if the “elite media” dies, good quality news will die with it.
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April 14th, 2010 - 03:01
what is this “new york times” you speak of?
is it the toilet paper that hired an unprincipled, criminal, cunt named judith miller to propagandize lies about iraq?
is it the toilet paper that hired an unprincipiled, criminal, dick named william kristol to write editorials praising the war crimes of bush-cheney?
is it the toilet paper that still hires an unprincipled, criminal, eunuch named david brooks to fart every day?
stop shilling for toilet paper.
April 14th, 2010 - 03:01
You must be talking about the WASHINGTON TIMES not the NYT.
Hardly anyone reads it because they have nothing to say. Dog trainer. Bird cage liner.
April 14th, 2010 - 03:02
news print is dead, They just are too arrogant to realize it…
No real journalism happens anymore. All of the MSM outlets, including newspapers like the NYT and WSJ are just relic outlets for the multinational corporations…
Nobody gives a rats ass on who Columbia says is a good journalist – academia has been just as corrupted by the left as business has been by the right…
April 14th, 2010 - 03:03
I’m not saying that that the NY Times doesn’t have its issues. But tell me what other organization out there is doing investigative journalism, there are none. Most news outlets simply cover stories as they happen, but who is covering the lead up to the event.
For instance, after the Iranian election there were protests that were covered by everyone. The NY Times was reporting on civil strife and issues that would eventually lead up to the protests.
Investigative journalism is vital to an informed country, without it people will be dumber than they already are.
April 14th, 2010 - 17:44
The Huffington Post is a news agrigator .. but they also do their own investigative journalism now.. using a journalists pool they created.
April 14th, 2010 - 17:45
Well Said…
justinp said-
“Investigative journalism is vital to an informed country, without it people will be dumber than they already are.”
This is absolutely true. And this is why the Founding Fathers referred to the free press as The Fourth Estate, entrusting it to the vital watchdog role of keeping the public informed, in order that an informed public should keep government at least somewhat honest.
This is why the Borg-like assimilation of the press by huge media conglomerates is such a threat to our freedoms. Particularly when those media conglomerates are in turn controlled by defense contractors, in the way that MSNBC is controlled by General Electric. What better way for a defense contractor to stimulate demand for its products than by using its controlled media to beat the war drums against Iran/Iraq/Afghanistan/North Korea/Somalia/Yemen
April 25th, 2010 - 08:40
The Huffington Post is a news agrigator .. but they also do their own investigative journalism now.. using a journalists pool they created.
April 25th, 2010 - 23:40
what is this “new york times” you speak of?
is it the toilet paper that hired an unprincipled, criminal, cunt named judith miller to propagandize lies about iraq?
is it the toilet paper that hired an unprincipiled, criminal, dick named william kristol to write editorials praising the war crimes of bush-cheney?
is it the toilet paper that still hires an unprincipled, criminal, eunuch named david brooks to fart every day?
stop shilling for toilet paper.
April 26th, 2010 - 03:43
Well Said…
justinp said-
“Investigative journalism is vital to an informed country, without it people will be dumber than they already are.”
This is absolutely true. And this is why the Founding Fathers referred to the free press as The Fourth Estate, entrusting it to the vital watchdog role of keeping the public informed, in order that an informed public should keep government at least somewhat honest.
This is why the Borg-like assimilation of the press by huge media conglomerates is such a threat to our freedoms. Particularly when those media conglomerates are in turn controlled by defense contractors, in the way that MSNBC is controlled by General Electric. What better way for a defense contractor to stimulate demand for its products than by using its controlled media to beat the war drums against Iran/Iraq/Afghanistan/North Korea/Somalia/Yemen
April 26th, 2010 - 05:03
I’m not saying that that the NY Times doesn’t have its issues. But tell me what other organization out there is doing investigative journalism, there are none. Most news outlets simply cover stories as they happen, but who is covering the lead up to the event.
For instance, after the Iranian election there were protests that were covered by everyone. The NY Times was reporting on civil strife and issues that would eventually lead up to the protests.
Investigative journalism is vital to an informed country, without it people will be dumber than they already are.
April 26th, 2010 - 10:39
You must be talking about the WASHINGTON TIMES not the NYT.
Hardly anyone reads it because they have nothing to say. Dog trainer. Bird cage liner.