Extremely upset

NYT publisher: White House ‘extremely upset’ on Biden age coverage

“We are going to continue to report fully and fairly,” A.G. Sulzberger said.

By KIERRA FRAZIER

The New York Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger said Monday that the White House is “extremely upset” about its coverage on President Joe Biden’s age but the newspaper will “continue to report fully and fairly.”

“We are going to continue to report fully and fairly, not just on Donald Trump but also on President Joe Biden,” Sulzberger said in an interview with The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

“He is a historically unpopular incumbent and the oldest man to ever hold this office. We’ve reported on both of those realities extensively, and the White House has been extremely upset about it.”

Criticism over coverage of Biden’s low approval ratings and, more especially, Biden’s age has sparked disapproval both from the Biden campaign and some members of the press. News stories of Biden’s age gained even more traction among the press as special counsel Robert Hur wrote in his recent report, entirely without prompting, that Biden was “an elderly man with a poor memory.”

Last week, former New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan said she found the coverage of this news, specifically in her old Times haunt, completely overcooked.

Sullivan wrote that she wishes that Sulzberger would instruct his opinion editor and the top news editor to cease “going overboard with both coverage and commentary about Biden’s age” and “tone it down.”

“We are not saying that this is the same as Trump’s five court cases or that they are even,” Sulzberger said in the interview. “They are different. But they are both true, and the public needs to know both those things. And if you are hyping up one side or downplaying the other, no side has a reason to trust you in the long run.”