NYT’s Kahn: ‘It’s not for us to solve’ the problem of Biden’s age
In April 2023, President Biden felt comfortable enough about his age to tell a joke about it at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. It came at the expense of a certain media outlet. “Look, I get that age is a completely reasonable issue. It’s on everybody’s mind. And by ‘everyone,’ I mean the New York Times.”
The quip was funny because of printed matter: The Times had turned out story after story after story about the president’s age and fitness for office — so much material, in fact, that it helped stir a feud between the newspaper and White House.
Related Knowledge Center: Democracy and politics
News organizations are scrambling to find a coverage approach that adequately informs the American public about the country’s slide from democracy to authoritarian rule.
Related Knowledge Center: Information integrity
In an increasingly fractured media landscape, truth has been a casualty in the public discussion. Coverage has been warped by the business needs of struggling news organizations, and a significant segment of the public relies on bad-faith outlets that are little more than propagandists. While fact-checking has become routine, some organizations are exploring other ways to combat the trends. And misinformation spewed by AI-driven chatbots has become more of a feature than simply a bug.
Fact-checking and its detractors
Related Knowledge Center: The Times and its critics
The New York Times is the most important — and successful — news organization in the United States, with unmatched resources. But its political coverage has its critics, including a growing number of veteran journalists.