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The Wall Street Journal editorial board made it clear this week that it will not cave to the “progressive cancel culture” looking to shut down alternative points of view.
Responding to a letter signed by 280 WSJ reporters sent to the publisher criticizing the opinion pages for spreading misinformation, the board offered a reassurance in print that the letter will not prompt changes to “our principles and content.”
The reassurance, which took care to point out that “someone” leaked the letter to the media, stressing that the Journal is “not the New York Times.”
The response proclaimed: “A Note to Readers — These pages won’t wilt under cancel-culture pressure.”
“In the spirit of collegiality, we won’t respond in kind to the letter signers. Their anxieties aren’t our responsibility in any case. The signers report to the News editors or other parts of the business, and the News and Opinion departments operate with separate staffs and editors. Both report to Publisher Almar Latour. This separation allows us to pursue stories and inform readers with independent judgment.
“It was probably inevitable that the wave of progressive cancel culture would arrive at the Journal, as it has at nearly every other cultural, business, academic and journalistic institution. But we are not the New York Times. Most Journal reporters attempt to cover the news fairly and down the middle, and our opinion pages offer an alternative to the uniform progressive views that dominate nearly all of today’s media.”
While the Journal is still considered to be a right-leaning publication, with college campuses/liberal indoctrination centers churning out an entire generation of woke progressives, true conservatives are a rare breed among the Gen Z crowd.
The letter reportedly called for better fact-checking, more transparency, and a clear divide between news and opinion. It cited a June 16 op-ed from Vice President Mike Pence that said there would be no “second wave” of coronavirus.
Another example cited was a column by conservative Heather Mac Donald, titled “The Myth of Systemic Police Racism.”
“Employees of color publicly spoke out about the pain this Opinion piece caused them during company-held discussions surrounding diversity initiatives,” the letter said. “If the company is serious about better supporting its employees of color, at a bare minimum it should raise Opinion’s standards so that misinformation about racism isn’t published.”
This week, The Wall Street Journal reported that nearly 300 WSJ staffers signed a letter to the publisher pointing out flaws and errors in Opinion articles and asking for changes. https://t.co/TFOX3KdzOR
Below: The letter in full. pic.twitter.com/v6hZvDcXl3
— marc tracy (@marcatracy) July 23, 2020
WSJ columnist Kimberley Strassel was quick to echo the stance taken by the board in a tweet:
“The opinion pages will continue to publish contributors who speak their minds within the tradition of vigorous, reasoned discourse. And these columns will continue to promote the principles of free people and free markets.” https://t.co/phmPz4vz6E via @WSJ
— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) July 24, 2020
Megyn Kelly also responded, tweeting: “This is what it looks like to have a spine, bosses of America.”
Hurrah for the @wsj!! This is what it looks like to have a spine, bosses of America. https://t.co/H5pCFjWc5F
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) July 24, 2020
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from Twitter:
Well done @WSJ. One of the many reasons I still subscribe and cancelled my NYT and WaPo subscriptions a few years ago. You’re the last paper that hasn’t moved to activism and still actually reports news.
— Covfefeisforclosers (@georgereedy) July 24, 2020
I’m sure I do not have to tell you but I will anyway. If you do you not get the woke SJW people out of your organization then they will come for you, management and the owners. All it takes is one or two of SJW`s and their virus will infect your entire organization.
— David (@davidunola504) July 24, 2020
Exactly! Who frightened so many CEOS and turned them into babbling cowards? Is there some powerful puppet master making midnight calls! Hopefully this paper won’t reverse itself by tomorrow! We can hope!
— Blanca (@blfogleman) July 24, 2020
It’s a start. I won’t hold my breath waiting for @nytimes do follow suit. Or networks like @CNN to stop calling evening anchors like @donlemon @AC360 @ChrisCuomo and the like, hard news programming. They are opinion shows. Period. Just like Fox at night.
— Bama_Girl2020 🇺🇸 (@Bama_Girl2020) July 24, 2020
WSJ should fire all employees who signed the letter or assign them to covering cat fashion shows. Not because they disagree w/op-ed page but because they don’t understand news and journalism.
— Mary Miskimon (@MaryEM106) July 24, 2020
👏👏👏👏👏
“It was probably inevitable that the wave of progressive cancel culture would arrive at the Journal, as it has at nearly every other cultural, business, academic and journalistic institution. But we are not the New York Times.”— Ben Greenzweig 🌎 (@BGreenzweig) July 24, 2020
Finally a newspaper where the grownups are in charge.
— Prof. Mark Youngkin (@mayoungkin) July 24, 2020
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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