A New York Times policy that surprised me
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
"Baseball: A History of America’ s Favorite Game" by George Vecsey is a fantastic book, and I think it’ s a must—read for anyone interested in Major League Baseball or who is thinking about becoming interested in it.
There is a sentence in this fantastic book that surprised me a little: "While my employer, the New York Times, does not permit reporters to vote for any award —a sensible policy, since the Times wants us to report news, not make it—we are allowed to express our opinions.” I’ m sure there are many people who read this article and think, "That’ s certainly a wise policy, as expected from The New York Times." However, I’ m not impressed. I have a lot of respect for the New York Times and think it’s a great newspaper, but I don’ t think that policy is appropriate for a prestigious newspaper like the New York Times.
It would be a major problem if reporters fabricated news or distorted the facts when reporting it. If they did that, I would get angry and say, "Stop making up the news!"
However, I think that reporters voting for awards is fundamentally different from those things, and I don’t feel angry at all. I don’ t think there’ s any problem as long as the voting results aren’t fabricated or distorted, and it’ s announced in advance that the decision will be made by voting. If those conditions are met, I would actually encourage reporters to vote.
For example, the MVP of Major League Baseball is selected by a vote of members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (though New York Times reporters probably do not vote in accordance with company policy). This selection method is made public in advance, and everyone acknowledges that the voting results are not fabricated or distorted. So I don’ t see anything wrong with this selection method. However, I sometimes get angry at the voting results, because sometimes a player other than the one I had in mind is chosen.
Passionate Major League Baseball fans have their own opinions, and they can get angry no matter who selects which player as MVP. I believe that only newspaper reporters are worthy of taking on the task of selecting the MVP, even if it means incurring such anger, and I want newspaper reporters to take on the task with dignity and have the courage and pride to do so. The New York Times is a great newspaper, so I want its reporters to have that kind of courage and pride. ...Because newspaper reporters select the MVP, I can get as angry as I want, because I trust newspaper reporters. If someone other than newspaper reporters were to select the MVP, I wouldn’t have that kind of trust, so my anger might end up being half—hearted. That would be boring.
Finally, there is something I really want to say.
I don’ t think the New York Times realizes something important: the articles it publishes become news. For example, what the New York Times writes in its editorials is broadcast around the world as news. Even in Japan, when various issues are discussed, it is not uncommon to hear people say, "This is what the New York Times says." For example, which books the New York Times Book Review features as the subject of its review becomes news, as do which books make it onto the bestseller list and which don’ t.
Furthermore, New York Times reporters can also become news. For example, the Cuban Missile Crisis is an unforgettable event for people of my generation. In the film "Thirteen Days," which depicts the Kennedy administration’ s response to the crisis, New York Times reporter James Reston appears as a newspaper reporter who provides incisive coverage of the Kennedy administration. For example, there is an award in memory of James P. Dawson, a reporter for The New York Times, “James P. Dawson Award”. Introduced in 1956, this award is presented annually to the New York Yankees’ best rookie at the end of spring training. The winner makes the news, and James P. Dawson’ s name is always mentioned in the news....Speaking of which, my next column will be about the historical fact in which James P. Dawson played an important role.
As a great respecter of the New York Times, I would like to see New York Times reporters vote for Major League Baseball—related awards.
(If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.)