Bari Weiss quits New York Times after bullying by colleagues over views: 'They have called me a Nazi and a racist'

New York Times opinion columnist and editor Bari Weiss announced Tuesday she is leaving the Gray Lady, saying she was bullied by colleagues in an "illiberal environment," weeks after declaring there was a “civil war” inside the paper.

Weiss published a scathing resignation letter that she sent to Times publisher A. G. Sulzberger on her personal website, noting she doesn’t understand how toxic behavior is allowed inside the newsroom and "showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery."

“It is with sadness that I write to tell you that I am resigning from The New York Times,” Weiss wrote.

Weiss then explained that she joined the paper in 2017 to help offer a different perspective, as the Times’ “failure to anticipate the outcome of the 2016 election meant that it didn’t have a firm grasp of the country it covers,” and fixing that issue was critical.

“But the lessons that ought to have followed the election—lessons about the importance of understanding other Americans, the necessity of resisting tribalism, and the centrality of the free exchange of ideas to a democratic society—have not been learned,” Weiss wrote. “Instead, a new consensus has emerged in the press, but perhaps especially at this paper: that truth isn’t a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else.”

Weiss then wrote that “Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times,” but social media acts as the ultimate editor.

“As the ethics and mores of that platform have become those of the paper, the paper itself has increasingly become a kind of performance space. Stories are chosen and told in a way to satisfy the narrowest of audiences, rather than to allow a curious public to read about the world and then draw their own conclusions. I was always taught that journalists were charged with writing the first rough draft of history,” she wrote. “Now, history itself is one more ephemeral thing molded to fit the needs of a predetermined narrative.”

Last month, Weiss offered insight about the internal battle among her colleagues following the publishing of an op-ed written by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. that sparked a major backlash from its own staff.

Hours before the Times offered a mea culpa for running Cotton's piece -- which called for troops to be sent in to quell the George Floyd riots -- Weiss claimed that a "civil war" was brewing within the paper.

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In her resignation letter, Weiss noted that her own “forays into Wrongthink” have made her the subject of “constant bullying by colleagues” who disagree with her views.

“They have called me a Nazi and a racist,” she wrote.

“I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m ‘writing about the Jews again.’ Several colleagues perceived to be friendly with me were badgered by coworkers,” Weiss added. “My work and my character are openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels where masthead editors regularly weigh in.”

Weiss then said she doesn’t understand how Sulzberger has allowed such behavior inside the newsroom “in full view of the paper’s entire staff and the public.”

“I certainly can’t square how you and other Times leaders have stood by while simultaneously praising me in private for my courage. Showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery,” Weiss wrote. “Part of me wishes I could say that my experience was unique. But the truth is that intellectual curiosity—let alone risk-taking—is now a liability at The Times.”... (Read more)

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