Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and longtime left-leaning New York Instances columnist, left the Grey Girl final month after greater than 20 years, accusing editors of successfully censoring his opinion items, canceling his beloved e-newsletter and having “made my life hell.”
An embittered Krugman, who was closely criticized for touting President Joe Biden’s financial insurance policies regardless of rampant inflation, complained that Instances editors have been “exerting a very heavy hand on what went out under my name.”
Krugman informed Columbia Journalism Evaluation that he “approached Mondays and Thursdays (when his columns appeared) with dread” and that he “often spent the afternoon in rage” after publication.
Krugman, who has gone on to launch his personal impartial e-newsletter on the Substack platform, pointed the finger at Patrick Healy, who was his deputy opinion editor.
“Patrick often — not always — rewrote crucial passages,” Krugman informed CJR final week.
“I would then do a rewrite of his rewrite to restore the original sense, and felt that I was putting more work — certainly more emotional energy — into repairing the damage from his editing than I put into writing the original draft.”
Krugman conceded that whereas “nothing was published without my approval,” he grew exasperated from the “back-and-forth” which “to my eye, both made my life hell and left the columns flat and colorless.”
The columnist stated that Instances opinion editors weren’t as lenient as they as soon as have been.
“I’ve always been very, very lightly edited on the column,” Krugman informed CJR.
“And that stopped being the case.”
Krugman stated that “the editing became extremely intrusive.”
“It was very much toning down of my voice, toning down of the feel, and a lot of pressure for what I considered false equivalence.”
He accused Healy and his superiors of attempting “to dictate the subject.”
The ultimate straw for Krugman was when he was knowledgeable by Healy this previous September that his workload — two columns per week and a weekly e-newsletter — could be diminished.
In keeping with Krugman, Healy informed him that the e-newsletter was being canceled.
“That was my ‘Network’ moment,” Krugman stated, quoting the Howard Beale character from the well-known 1976 film: “‘I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore.’”
Healy’s boss, Instances opinion editor Kathleen Kingsbury, denied that Krugman’s e-newsletter was killed.
Kingsbury informed CJR it was “patently untrue” that the Instances wished to eliminate the e-newsletter, which stopped operating in October.
In keeping with Kingsbury, she emailed Krugman on Sept. 30 to induce him to stay on the Instances, which might enable him to proceed the e-newsletter although with out guaranteeing that it will be revealed on a weekly foundation.
Kingsbury informed CJR that Krugman was allowed the prospect to “use [the newsletter] to weigh in when you and your editor agree that it’s necessary.”
However there was one situation: Krugman may maintain the e-newsletter if he agreed to cut back the frequency of his column to as soon as per week.
Krugman refused.
Healy denied any ideas that he was censoring Krugman.
“He never called or emailed me saying I was changing his meaning or censoring his views, and he never lodged an objection to me that I overrode,” Healy informed CJR.
Kingsbury informed CJR that Instances columnists have been extra closely edited since she succeeded James Bennet as opinion editor in 2020.
Bennet resigned as Instances opinion editor in June 2020 following backlash over the publication of a controversial op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), which advocated for the usage of army power in opposition to protesters within the wake of George Floyd’s killing.
The op-ed sparked inside and exterior criticism, with many Instances staffers arguing that it endangered black journalists, in the end resulting in Bennet’s departure.
After leaving the Instances, Bennet criticized the paper for what he noticed as a retreat from journalistic independence and open debate, arguing that it had change into overly conscious of criticism.
He claimed that his compelled resignation mirrored a broader shift on the Instances towards ideological conformity and a reluctance to publish controversial viewpoints.
Krugman contended that he was being singled out and that his former colleagues on the Instances opinion web page — together with Thomas Friedman, Maureen Dowd and Gail Collins — weren’t subjected to the identical editorial scrutiny.
Friedman backed up Healy, telling CJR: “I have a terrific editor in Patrick Healy and have not experienced any change in the editing of my column since we started working together in 2020.”
When requested to remark about Friedman, Dowd and Collins, Krugman informed CJR: “I don’t have a feud here. All I know is that I was in fact being treated very differently from the past.”
A Instances spokesperson informed The Put up: “There are few places in journalism where the voice of a writer shines through more than in Opinion columns.”
“Paul’s own voice remained recognizable, free to experiment, and above all encouraged by his editors up until the last word he published in our report,” the Instances spokesperson stated.
“We would outright dispute any insinuation he was held back or censored from producing creative original journalism.”
The newspaper rep stated that Krugman “is a Times legend” and that the publication “respected his decision to leave and wish him well in his current endeavors.”
