Adam Rubenstein is a former New York Times Editor. He has written an extensive essay in The Atlantic, which exposes the alleged bias of the paper’s coverage. The essay follows similar pieces from former editors and writers that range from Bari Weiss to Rubenstein’s former colleague James Bennet. The essay describes an environment in which even a passing mention of his liking for Chik-Fil’A sandwiches was enough to cause colleagues to condemn him.
An opinion-section editor, Rubenstein was involved in the controversy over publishing Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R., Ark.) He wrote an opinion piece in which he called for the possible deployment of the National Guard to stop violent riots at the White House.
It was one the lowest points of modern American journalism. Cotton called for troops to be used in Washington, after a series of days of rioting near the White House. While Congress would “call in the troops” six months later to quell the rioting at the Capitol on January 6th, New York Times reporters and columnists called the column historically inaccurate and politically inciteful. Cotton’s suggestion to use troops was deemed dangerous by reporters, who insisted the newspaper could not publish it.
