The print version will arrive Sunday, but online readers of the New York Times were able to read writer Richard Fausset’s profile of a white nationalist living in New Carlise, Ohio, a day early.
As Twitchy reported Friday, a New York Times profile of conservative Ben Shapiro — whom some laughably consider “alt-right” — was enough to convince Debra Messing to allegedly cancel her subscription, so what reaction would Times readers have to an actual, self-declared Nazi sympathizer profiled in its pages?
The reception was not good, overall.
Comic Michael Ian Black wasn’t necessarily contrary at all: why not profile white nationalists, especially if they seem more pathetic than powerful in the telling?
Going to be contrary: maybe it's a good thing to show the world who modern Nazis are. He isn't some jackbooted 'roid raging freak. He's just a wannabe rock-n-roller with too many cats. He's nothing.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) November 25, 2017
ESPN’s Jemele Hill took the same tack:
The journalist in me understands that your job sometimes is to explain why awful people are so awful. It’s a delicate process. It’s a fine line between explaining and giving hateful people a platform that normalizes their hate. Swing and a miss, here https://t.co/KkEE2rmhTv
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) November 25, 2017
Late night TV writer Bess Kalb was not a fan of Fausset’s take:
I don't mean to sound intolerant or coarse, but fuck this Nazi and fuck the gentle, inquisitive tone of this Nazi normalizing barf journalism, and fuck the photographer for not just throwing the camera at this Nazi's head and laughing. https://t.co/Pxfx2KU9AN
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) November 25, 2017
Teen Vogue writer and casual misandrist Lauren Duca:
Let's make one thing fucking clear, @nytimes: There is no such thing as a Nazi with good manners.
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) November 25, 2017
Actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani and Sally Kohn:
https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/934514992585383937
Thiiiiiiiiiiiissssssss! https://t.co/bQ3CcaWTMF
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) November 25, 2017
Best of all, though, was Hillary superfan Peter Daou, who seemed most angry that those valuable column-inches could have been dedicated to profiling Hillary Clinton voters.
The NY Times features the "polite and low-key" Nazi next door.
The LA Times highlights "the human side of Charles Manson."
CNN runs interviews with Trump voters called "pulse of the people."Have you seen a SINGLE profile of Hillary voters, the women who made history in 2016?
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) November 25, 2017
Scratch that … the best take was from author Richard Fausset himself, who confessed in the behind-the-scenes “Times Insider” column that the whole affair was a swing and a miss:
After I had filed an early version of the article, an editor at The Times told me he felt like the question had not been sufficiently addressed. So I went back to Mr. Hovater in search of answers. I still don’t think I really found them. I could feel the failure even as Mr. Hovater and I spoke on the phone, adding to what had already been hours of face-to-face conversation in and around his hometown New Carlisle, Ohio.
the nyt reporter who profiled the ohio nazi basically confesses he didn't get much. and that the intvws didn't connect any dots for him. sometimes you gotta know when to kill a story. https://t.co/1VyuN0hNal pic.twitter.com/dRbte68N01
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) November 25, 2017
I've dealt with this interviewing some people w/ reprehensible views. i understand impulse to try and show the mundane side of hate bc there's something to learn from that. but there has to be a THERE there. if not, abort!
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) November 25, 2017
At least the Times got “Nazi” trending for no apparent reason over the holiday weekend:
https://twitter.com/SharkSteak/status/934555527530590208
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Related:
New York Times notes the rising profile of the alt-right, though most Americans haven't heard of it https://t.co/0FiHPtCMCZ
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 13, 2016
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