I have some advice for young writers and aspiring journalists: Never, under any circumstances, for whatever reason, come out swinging against the publication you write for. Not unless you're looking to get slapped down about it, anyway.
Kind of like these geniuses at the New York Times!
The top editor of The New York Times warned the newspaper's journalists who have voiced displeasure with the outlet's coverage of transgender people and issues that such public criticism will "not be tolerated."
Now, if this were merely an internal matter, then Joe Kahn's missive would not really have been necessary. Things that stay within the company are normally dealt quietly by the company.
But the staffers in question weren't just grumbling at their desks, they were lining up with an outside organization:
"It is not unusual for outside groups to critique our coverage or to rally supporters to seek to influence our journalism. In this case, however, members of our staff and contributors to The Times joined the effort. Their protest letter included direct attacks on several of our colleagues, singling them out by name," Kahn wrote. "Participation in such a campaign is against the letter and spirit of our ethics policy. That policy prohibits our journalists from aligning themselves with advocacy groups and joining protest actions on matters of public policy. We also have a clear policy prohibiting Times journalists from attacking one another's journalism publicly or signaling their support for such attacks."
These goobers went Full Fredo on the Times, and Joe Kahn had to go Full Michael on them in turn:
Because it was unfortunately necessary, Kahn forcefully spelled it out for them:
"Our coverage of transgender issues, including the specific pieces singled out for attack, is important, deeply reported, and sensitively written," he said. "We do not welcome, and will not tolerate, participation by Times journalists in protests organized by advocacy groups or attacks on colleagues on social media and other public forums."
