A ‘Former Newspaper’

Novelist, screenwriter, podcaster, and all-around sage Andrew Klavan has taken to referring to the New York Times as a “former newspaper.” The Times, he says, clings to the pretense of news reporting while pursuing other ends, to wit, the advancement of the leftist ideology shared by the paper’s writers, editors, and management. Seldom does a week go by that Klavan, in his writing or on his podcast, doesn’t provide justification for his low opinion of what once was known as America’s Newspaper of Record. And, he admonishes, while it’s important to pay attention to what’s included in the paper’s stories, it’s often more important to ask what’s been left out.

I offer as the next exhibit in Klavan’s catalog of evidence a recent Times story concerning the murder conviction of former Minneapolis police officer in the death of Justine Damond. The May 3 story’s headline asks the portentous question: “A Black Officer, a White Woman, a Rare Murder Conviction. Is It ‘Hypocrisy,’ or Justice?”

It’s the New York Times, of course, so we know this is not really a question at all, and that it can only be hypocrisy that explains why Noor, a black Muslim immigrant from Somalia, is being punished for killing a white woman while white and Hispanic officers have escaped similar consequences for killing black men. And, lest you still entertain the notion that this could be an unbiased news story, consider that it was written by John Eligon, whose bio informs us he is “a national correspondent covering race,” and that he “documents the nuances of America’s struggle with race issues, from the protest movement over police violence to the changing face of the nation’s cities and suburbs.”

Just as a man with a hammer sees every problem as a nail, only someone committed to finding a racial angle, say, someone who makes a living at it, will see one in the horrific death of Justine Damond. Recall that in July 2017 Damond called the Minneapolis Police Department to report what she believed may have been a sexual assault taking place near her home and that it was Noor and another officer who responded. After the officers drove down the alley behind Damond’s home, she approached their police car in the apparent hope of speaking with them. Noor shot her, firing across his partner and through the open driver’s side window. At his trial, Noor testified that he perceived Damond to be a threat after hearing a “bang” and seeing her approach the opposite side of the car.

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