Gray Lady Down : What the Decline and Fall of the New York Times Means for America

The New York Times was once considered the gold standard in American journalism and the most trusted news organization in America. Today, it is generally understood to be a vehicle for politically correct ideologies, tattered liberal pieties, and a repeated victim of journalistic scandal and institutional embarrassment. In Gray Lady Down, the hard-hitting follow up to Coloring the News, William McGowan asks who is responsible for squandering the finest legacy in American journalism. Combining original reporting, critical assessment and analysis, McGowan exposes the Times’ obsessions with diversity, “soft” pop cultural news, and countercultural Vietnam-era attitudinizing, and reveals how these trends have set America’s most important news icon at odds with its journalistic mission—and with the values and perspectives of much of mainstream America. Gray Lady Down considers the consequences—for the Times, for the media, and, most important, for American society and its political processes at this fraught moment in our nation’s history. In this highly volatile media environment, the fate of the Times may portend the future of the fourth estate. The New York Times was once considered the gold standard in American journalism and the most trusted news organization in the country. Today, it is widely understood to be a vehicle for politically correct ideologies and tattered liberal pieties, as well as a repeat victim of journalistic scandal and institutional embarrassment. In Gray Lady Down, the hard-hitting sequel to Coloring the News, award-winning journalist William McGowan asks who is responsible for squandering the finest legacy in American journalism. Combining original reporting with critical analysis, he exposes the Times' unhealthy obsessions with "diversity," pop culture, and countercultural attitudinizing. These trends, he argues, have set America's most important news icon at odds with the values and perspectives of a large sector of the American mainstream, as well as compromising its coverage of such fractious issues as immigration, Islamic terrorism, and war. Gray Lady Down considers the consequences... Journalist William Mcgowan Traces The History Of The New York Times, Describes Its Legacy Within American Journalism, And Examines The Fate Of The Times In The Twenty-first Century. Abe Rosenthal And The Golden Age -- The Rise Of Arthur Jr. -- Bullets Over Arthur Jr. -- Race -- Immigration -- Culture Wars -- Gays -- War On Terror -- War -- Conclusion. William Mcgowan. Includes Index. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.