Bob Thompson: The New York Times Turned Their Endorsement Into A Reality TV Show

The New York Times Announces Cuts To Newsroom Staff — NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 01: Traffic drives past The New York Times building on October 1, 2014 in New York City. The Times announced plans to cut approximately 100 jobs from the newsroom today, with the company announcing it will start with buy-out packages before moving to layoffs.

Arjun Singh is a producer for Boston Public Radio. A California native, Arjun moved to Boston to study international relations at Boston University. Prior to working at WGBH, Arjun worked at a tech company and for a political campaign.

January 20, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

On Sunday, the New York Times decided to select their endorsement for the candidate to beat former reality television star and President Donald Trump, via their television show “The Weekly,” when the editorial board revealed — for the first time in the paper’s history — the decision making behind their endorsements of Senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic primary.

Media scholar Bob Thompson praised the Times on Boston Public Radio Monday for opening up their endorsement process and called it “compelling TV.” However, he did not appreciate the Times’ decision to endorse two candidates.

“If they’re trying to make 'The Weekly' reality tv... . They’re not doing a very good job of it,” Thompson said. “It was a preliminary endorsement. It was a narrowing down... . I wonder if they’re going to do an episode where they finally make a decision after we see what’s going down in some of these primaries.”

Thompson is the founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and a Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.