In this episode of the Conservative Playbook, we discuss the way Senator Tom Cotton’s op-ed was canceled by woke employees at the New York Times.

There are huge differences between the younger radical progressives working at the NY Times and the older mainstream leftists who still have an attachment to their roots as liberals. The “woke” youngsters feel it is their employer’s responsibility to only report what’s “woke” and to prohibit any speech that offends their delicate sensitivities. The leftist reporters, mostly older, still cling to the notion that part of being liberal means adhering to free speech. This is a dynamic that is often misunderstood by conservatives and difficult for leftists to articulate.

Senator Tom Cotton had written an op-ed promoting the end to riots by utilizing the military. After receiving severe backlash from the radical progressives, including many of their own employees, the NY Times issued an apology and took down the article.

This form of cancel culture in mainstream media is growing more pervasive, but many of us assumed the venerable NY Times was immune to the far-left’s notions that only the most “woke” opinions are to be allowed. We were wrong. They bowed down to their young, radical betters and chose censorship of popular ideas such as this one, which is supported by 58% of Americans.

There is a thread by NY Times journalist Bari Weiss that deserves to be heard:

The civil war inside The New York Times between the (mostly young) wokes the (mostly 40+) liberals is the same one raging inside other publications and companies across the country. The dynamic is always the same. (Thread.)

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) June 4, 2020

The New Guard has a different worldview, one articulated best by @JonHaidt and @glukianoff. They call it "safetyism," in which the right of people to feel emotionally and psychologically safe trumps what were previously considered core liberal values, like free speech.

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) June 4, 2020

I've been mocked by many people over the past few years for writing about the campus culture wars. They told me it was a sideshow. But this was always why it mattered: The people who graduated from those campuses would rise to power inside key institutions and transform them.

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) June 4, 2020

Here's one way to think about what's at stake: The New York Times motto is "all the news that's fit to print." One group emphasizes the word "all." The other, the word "fit."

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) June 4, 2020

If the answer is yes, it means that the view of more than half of Americans are unacceptable. And perhaps they are. https://t.co/2zltJkLXE3

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) June 4, 2020

The frustration that Weiss feels about her employer and her colleagues who pressured them can be alleviated in one of two ways. The first is the obvious one: Journalists should be journalists and not social justice warriors. If the NY Times wants to hold on to a shred of their credibility, then they need to put their employees in their place and allow the truth to come out even if it goes against their stated narrative. But let’s face the facts. That’s not going to happen. If they’re willing to censor an article from a United States Senator on a topic that is supported by a majority of Americans, they’re willing to censor anyone.

The second solution is the one we are promoting because it’s the only one that can actually work. Republicans and conservatives need to stop acknowledging that the NY Times exists. Seriously. Any calls from reporters seeking comments should be ignored. Any stories they publish, regardless of topic, should not be discussed in public or even in private. This radical publication is pandering to the radical left with all of their actions and therefore there is no need for a Republican to ever give them the time of day. If someone like Tom Cotton published his op-ed on Breitbart, Townhall, The Daily Wire, or, heck, NOQ Report, it would have still been read by just as many people. Senators do not need the circulation of the NY Times to get the word out. It will get out just as far and just as fast in 2020 based on who he is and the message he delivered. That’s the power of the internet and social media.

Just as Republicans should block the NY Times completely, so too should conservatives stop sharing them. They need a complete blackout from all of us who love this nation because, frankly, most at the NY Times do not. There are few stories the NY Times or any news outlet will publish that cannot be found on unbiased or conservative news outlets. Share those. Never should a link from the NY Times be shared by a conservative on social media, ever. And yes, we’re absolutely serious.

The NY Times have shown their true colors time and again. They no longer deserve the dignity of getting quotes from Republican lawmakers. They should be blacklisted, relegated to the likes of Buzzfeed or Slate. Stop sharing anything from the NY Times.

Check out the NEW NOQ Report Podcast.

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