NYT apologizes for offending 'so many' readers after profile of Nazi sympathizer
Source: The Hill
BY OLIVIA BEAVERS - 11/26/17 02:33 PM EST
he New York Times on Sunday issued an apology for offending readers by publishing a profile on a Nazi sympathizer, while defending the piece as an important part of the discussion about fringe activists.
"We regret the degree to which the piece offended so many readers," Marc Lacy, the Times' national editor, wrote in response to the backlash about the piece published on Saturday.
"We recognize that people can disagree on how best to tell a disagreeable story. What we think is indisputable, though, is the need to shed more light, not less, on the most extreme corners of American life and the people who inhabit them. Thats what the story, however imperfectly, tried to do," he continued.
The Times profiled Tony Hovater, a white nationalist and Nazi sympathizer in Ohio, who attended the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August. That rally saw white supremacists converge on the college town chanting "Jews will not replace us." It led to violence, and one woman was killed. She was part of the group of counter protesters demonstrating against the hate groups.
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/media/361866-nyt-regrets-offending-so-many-readers-after-profile-of-nazi-sympathizer
LonePirate
(13,412 posts)There is nothing in there that serves as an apology, imo.
Panho
(39 posts)The NYT did not apologize.
ToxMarz
(2,166 posts)Response to Panho (Reply #7)
Judi Lynn This message was self-deleted by its author.
no_hypocrisy
(46,061 posts)There are better days ahead for Al Franken.
Bleacher Creature
(11,256 posts)sarge43
(28,941 posts)Well, maybe not a mother who lost her father or elder brother in the Holocaust or at Juno Beach.
And Hitler liked his dog; so he couldn't have been all that bad.
"It's about a fucking Nazi."
Sing it Sister.
christx30
(6,241 posts)Plus, he was the guy that killed Hitler. Some people would say that he's a hero.
DonViejo
(60,536 posts)rpannier
(24,329 posts)Hitler suffered from a gastrointestinal disorder which brought on gas. So, he often refrained from eating meat
Robert Payne is widely considered to be Hitler's definitive biographer. In his book, Hitler: The Life and Death of Adolph Hitler, Payne says that Hitler's "vegetarianism" was a "legend" and a "fiction" invented by Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda. According to Payne: He drank beer and diluted wine frequently, had a special fondness for Bavarian sausages and kept a mistress, Eva Braun
His asceticism was fiction invented by Goebbels to emphasize his total dedication, his self-control, the distance that separated him from other men. By this outward show of asceticism, he could claim that he was dedicated to the service of his people. In fact he was remarkably self-indulgent and possessed none of the instincts of the ascetic."
While it is true that Hitler's doctors put him on a vegetarian diet to cure him of flatulence and a chronic stomach disorder, his biographers such as Albert Speer, Robert Payne, John Toland, et al, have attested to his liking for ham sausages and other cured meats. Even Spencer says that Hitler was a vegetarian from only 1931 on: "It would be true to say that up to 1931, he preferred a vegetarian diet, but on some occasions would deviate from it." He committed suicide in the bunker when he was 56 in 1945; that would have given him 14 years as a vegetarian, but we have the testimony to the contrary of the woman chef who was his personal cook in Hamburg during the late 1930s - Dione Lucas. In her "Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook," she records that his favorite dish - the one that he customarily requested - was stuffed squab (pigeon). "I do not mean to spoil your appetite for stuffed squab, but you might be interested to know that it was a great favorite with Mr. Hitler, who dined in the hotel often."
Yonnie3
(17,427 posts)I haven't read the article and I'm not going to.
sarge43
(28,941 posts)BumRushDaShow
(128,710 posts)renate
(13,776 posts)To me it seemed to be about how people like him live and walk among us, and we'd never know what was in their minds because of how normally they behave and how normal they look.
atreides1
(16,068 posts)Members of the Gestapo and the German police looked and behaved normally, so did those members of the SS who murdered 12 million people in the camps!
The German Nazis also looked and behaved normally.
What makes them different is how they think and what they think...and I hope from here until the day that piece of scum dies, that he will be hounded by those people who are normal...and refuse to accept the presence of a possible advocate of genocide in their neighborhood!!!
djg21
(1,803 posts)It scares me that seemingly reasonable, relatively normal appearing and acting people could hold and espouse such abhorrent beliefs. But it does no one any good to ignore the fact that segments within or society do hold these despicable beliefs. The NY Times has done its job and started a conversation. Sunlight always is the best disinfectant.
Panho
(39 posts)I didn't find it.
marble falls
(57,056 posts)as reasonable and normal people.
Martin Eden
(12,859 posts)We need to know the face of the enemy.
WhoWoodaKnew
(847 posts)Chemisse
(30,806 posts)I haven't read the article, but as long as it does not glorify him, I am all for illumination. I'm certainly curious how someone can come to have such beliefs. In addition, knowledge is power.
So I am baffled as to why NYT was called upon to apologize.
marble falls
(57,056 posts)or just one of us. It would be nice if there were a mark on these people but I take the story as a reminder to listen to people and get to know who they are.
marybourg
(12,606 posts)actually read the article.
marble falls
(57,056 posts)rpannier
(24,329 posts)I found the article rather reprehensible as I thought, it did normalize this guy as the wonderful friend next door, the guy your mother would love
But, different people can read the same thing and come away with a different take on what is there
Maven
(10,533 posts)While the NYT still has some credibility left. The Times under his leadership has been a disaster.
sarge43
(28,941 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)7962
(11,841 posts)Imagine; reading a story BEFORE being outraged by it!!
I remember years ago religious people protesting the movie "Life of Brian" from Monty Python. None had ever SEEN it. They thought it was insulting to Jesus. It really wasn't.
rpannier
(24,329 posts)I am free to say the story is garbage then?
Gothmog
(145,046 posts)Mc Mike
(9,111 posts)about the Times' nazi normalization article.
Haven't been able to locate it, here or elsewhere on-line.
Mc Mike
(9,111 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)Granted, it didn't denounce him either. What the author SHOULD have done, was explicitly lay out what Nazism and white supremacy stand for in its hideousness. What happened during WW2 both to Germany and the rest of the world and to 6 million Jews, Slavs, intellectuals, homosexuals, leftists, Roma, etc. THEN... the readers would REALLY have the guy in context.
A monster in plain garb, that's what he is.
sweetloukillbot
(10,997 posts)I don't think it needed to lay out the history of Nazism, everyone knows that. But it didn't explore WHY he became a monster, it just showed, "Hey, he's normal! Just like you and me, he likes Seinfeld and NPR."
steve2470
(37,457 posts)You and I and the vast majority of DU knows about Nazism. The average Joe and Jane out there do NOT. Hitler is just some stupid idiot on Youtube videos to many young people. People need to be educated on how horrible it was. You and I need no education, but yes, most do, imho.
sweetloukillbot
(10,997 posts)djg21
(1,803 posts)Live in Alabama and dont read the N.Y. Times. The words are too big.
RhodeIslandOne
(5,042 posts)Was once left leaning, became a libertarian, and an anarcho capitalist before going full Nazi.
I dont think hes particularly smart and doesnt realize his sense of entitlement.
J_William_Ryan
(1,749 posts)Whatever our goal, a lot of readers found the story offensive, with many seizing on the idea we were normalizing neo-Nazi views and behavior. How to normalize Nazis 101! one reader wrote on Twitter. Im both shocked and disgusted by this article, wrote another. Attempting to normalize white supremacist groups should Never have been printed!
Our reporter and his editors agonized over the tone and content of the article. The point of the story was not to normalize anything but to describe the degree to which hate and extremism have become far more normal in American life than many of us want to think.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/26/reader-center/readers-accuse-us-of-normalizing-a-nazi-sympathizer-we-respond.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share
Hate and extremism facilitated by Trump, where Trumps own hate and bigotry gives license to bigots and racists.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,294 posts)"The point of the story was not to normalize anything but to describe the degree to which hate and extremism have become far more normal in American life than many of us want to think"
Aren't they just contradicting themselves?
As an example of normalizing the Nazi:
More analysis of it here: https://wonkette.com/626173/new-york-timess-nazi-profile-was-better-in-original-german#AiM9Bm3ydocp03dL.99
steve2470
(37,457 posts)It really puts the monster in much better context.
ProfessorGAC
(64,955 posts)A very good read!
Ned of New Mexico
(3 posts)Already done. By the entire media. Last year. He's now in the White House.
The Wizard
(12,541 posts)The story is a warning as to who could be living next to us. The guy is suffering from cognitive dissonance and his reasoning is disjointed lacking any logic. I imagine he might find it difficult getting a job after this Times story.
Skittles
(153,138 posts)it is just plain JOURNALISM
ck4829
(35,041 posts)White privilege is getting together and talking about killing people... and it's called freedom of speech.
RobinA
(9,886 posts)The New York Times is supposed to apologize for printing a profile on a guy who represents a scarifyingly large number of our citizens because his opinions are deplorable? Thats... oh wait, Im not allowed to disagree with prevailing opinion on DU anymore. Im almost 60 and I never thought Id see this country become what it is today.
dalton99a
(81,426 posts)who killed Heather Heyer
zentrum
(9,865 posts)paleotn
(17,901 posts)X_Digger
(18,585 posts)It's an interesting examination of how someone becomes that hate-filled.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,294 posts)The author of the piece himself says he didn't find that out - he couldn't find his 'Rosebud'. So if you reckon is shows how he became hate-filled, can you explain it, please?
RhodeIslandOne
(5,042 posts)We'll have to live with it.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Last edited Mon Nov 27, 2017, 08:22 AM - Edit history (27)
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whew....29 part Tweet dissertation...... I hope this gets read
Behind the Aegis
(53,936 posts)I am glad some people are actually understanding how stupid the NYT piece was. Then again, when it comes to Nazis, most think "Jews", and Jews just aren't important enough for people to give two shits about.