A legion of New York-based writers, most of whom have contributed to The New York Times, have fired off the latest letter in their battle with the Times over its coverage of trans issues—this time sending it directly to the paper’s publisher.
The new open letter, addressed to publisher A.G. Sulzberger, took issue with the Times’ own responses in the ongoing dispute, saying the paper has “strained the credibility” in recent weeks of its stated desire to engage with those who’ve criticized its coverage.
The Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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“Neither your employees nor your freelance contributors have been able to engage you ‘respectfully and through the right channels,’ as Joe Kahn put it in his internal memo,” the eight writers said. “Staff have tried since at least 2021 to address their concerns on this issue internally. Their diligent efforts have been fruitless.”
The letter did note some of the Times’ efforts in addressing concerns, including updating a New York Times Magazine story titled “The Battle Over Gender Therapy” to remove the phrase “Patient Zero,” which referred to the first patient to receive puberty suppressants at a clinic in Amsterdam. That action, however, did not address larger concerns that the paper coverage is too focused on one side of the issue, the signees wrote.
“We commend this step, but given the sweeping efforts to curtail trans people’s access to healthcare—a campaign that has already explicitly cited ‘The Battle Over Gender Therapy’ in court—this minor edit is not enough,” they wrote.
The letter follows nearly two months of public outcry over the Gray Lady’s coverage of trans issues, including two separate public letters by both Times contributors and the LGBTQ media organization GLAAD. The saga has included multiple letters between Times leadership, its union, and the NewsGuild of New York. Times contributors who signed the initial open letter also received disciplinary notices that warned against any future public campaigns.
