Former NY Times Public Editor: Op-Ed Author Trying to Have It Both Ways
*By Conor White*
President Trump took his latest shot at the New York Times Friday, [calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-investigation/index.html) to investigate the publication and find out who wrote the anonymous op-ed that rocked the White House this week.
While the president has threatened to take action, legal experts haven't suggested the Times violated any laws in posting the piece, but the question of whether it *should* have remains.
"I think it was ethically fine," Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post media columnist and former Public Editor for the New York Times, said Friday in an interview on Cheddar. "I think they do run up against some issues if they also decide to have reporters reveal the identity."
In most newsrooms, the opinion and news sections operate as separate entities. But they may collide if the Times' own reporters begin to dig for answers, Sullivan said.
"This op-ed piece was published by the opinion section, the news section presumably is free to pursue the story, but whether that separation is really going to be honored and be understood is another question."
The paper should prepare for a legal battle, and the author should ready him or herself for the consequences, Sullivan said. After all, it seems Trump is arming himself for war.
"We're looking at it very strongly from a legal point," the president said to reporters before boarding Air Force One on Friday. "We're going to take a look at what he had, what he gave, what he's talking about, also where he is right now."
Trump has called the writer "gutless," and while Sullivan doesn't agree with that sentiment, she acknowledged that the anonymous nature of the piece is something of a detractor.
"If you're going to say something like this that's so negative and so detrimental, it would be much more important to put your name behind it," she said.
The Times only identified the writer as a "senior official". Many of President Trump's advisers, including Mike Pence, Steve Mnuchin, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Mike Pompeo, and Nikki Haley, have adamantly denied they are behind the piece.
But Sullivan doesn't think the author will be hidden for long.
"I don't think this is going to be a case like Watergate's Deep Throat, where the person, Mark Felt, was a secret for actually decades from almost everyone, I think we're going to know who this person is."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/should-the-new-york-times-have-published-trump-op-ed).
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri faced a bipartisan Congressional grilling this week as the Senate inquired about safety practices for protecting the mental wellbeing of young people on the platform. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Cheddar to talk about the hearing and how she was disappointed in Instagram coming unprepared with relevant information or documents. Blackburn also offered concern that the platform could continue with building a kids-only version despite having drawn significant opposition from the public.
The Great Resignation has shown some signs of slowing in October with the number of those who quit their jobs falling by 4.7 percent to 4.16 million. This comes as worker strikes and calls for unionization ramp up. Jane Oates, president at WorkingNation joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to discuss the implications.
U.S. markets opened lower despite positive jobs data, which saw weekly claims drop to a 52-year low. Kevin Nicholson, Co-CIO Global Fixed Income, RiverFront Investment Group joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the labor market, inflation, and the impact of the Omicron variant on global markets.
A packed Thursday pod: Carlo and Baker cover the latest developments in the Ghislaine Maxwell, Jussie Smollett and Elizabeth Holmes trials. Plus, Dems are losing the Hispanic vote, Boris Johnson in trouble again, and is it possible that Adele has peaked?
Jim Bruderman, Vice Chairman at 1879 Advisors, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors experienced a 'panic attack' last week with the spread of the Omicron variant and the Fed's tapering plans. As a result, he says we're now seeing stocks climb due to a growing comfort level toward both developments.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, faced withering questions on Capitol Hill about the reports the social media app was aware of the severe mental health impacts it was having on teenage girls. Karen Kornbluh, the director of digital innovation and democracy for the German Marshall Fund, joined Cheddar to discuss the rare show of bipartisan outrage on display at the Senate hearing. "The senators came really loaded for bear on both sides of the aisle," she said. Kornbluh explained how senators like Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) set up fake Instagram accounts with teen girl profiles in order to research the effects firsthand.
The Biden administration will not send an official U.S. delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as a statement against China's "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang." Weifeng Zhong, senior research fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss the boycott.
