The Times steps aside, locally, again. No more endorsements in New York races.

The New York Times Will Stop Endorsing Candidates in New York Races, the New York Times reported Aug. 13, in its Business section, without any accompanying announcement from the Opinion page. 

That means no more endorsements for mayor, governor, and (as they'd done) selected state and city races. That means a boost to incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who saw a rivalry galvanized in 2021 by the Times's endorsement of the lesser-known Kathryn Garcia.

From the article:

Kathleen Kingsbury, The Times’s Opinion editor, said in a statement that The Times remained a journalistic institution “rooted in New York City.” She did not give a reason for the shift but said that “Opinion will continue to offer perspective on the races, candidates and issues at stake.”

My best guess is that the Times calculated that it wasn't worth the time and effort to do due diligence for local races when its readership has become so broad. Heck, the Times used to endorse City Council candidates in races that it hadn't even covered in its news pages.

Pulling back

It's another sign of the newspaper's abdication of responsibility for local coverage and commentary. No Metro section. No Metro columnist, unless you count the not-always-timely Sunday columns of Ginia Bellafonte. No Brooklyn bureau (right?). 

Note extremely sporadic coverage of Atlantic Yards. Remember, I entered the fray 19 years ago as a critic of Times coverage. Now there is none, essentially. They even wrote editorials--worth critiquing!--about Atlantic Yards. More are unlikely.

Many critiques

The Times's own article ended with an implicit critique:

“The way it mattered for the city was not just it helps you designate a winner,” said Stu Loeser, a veteran adviser to Democratic candidates for mayor, governor and U.S. Senate. “It mattered because it helped keep candidates honest, from taking cheap shots and saying what’s popular instead of what’s hard.”

That critique was furthered by pretty much everybody in public, though presumably not in the Times's c-suites.

In Readers’ Pleas to The Times: Don’t End the New York Endorsements, former Times reporter Nina Bernstein said she was appalled:

Now more than ever in an era of A.I.-enhanced misinformation, the city and the state need both the kind of in-depth local news reporting that informs citizens and the reasoned endorsements, based on fact, of The Times as an institution — regardless of whether readers agree with its editorial opinion.

Former Comptroller (and now Mayoral candidate) Scott Stringer cited the benefits of the process:

Candidates seeking the endorsement knew they would face a thorough examination of their stances on the most pressing issues. Preparing for your interview meant applying that same scrutiny to yourself, encouraging you to sharpen your positions and meaningfully speak to and address voter concerns.

Former campaign consultant Harry Brussel noted:

Money is now the golden prerequisite to campaign for office. Without local reporting and editorials, voters choose their representatives based chiefly on what is paid to appear in their mailbox or on their television.

Other commentators weigh in

Vital City contributor (and Daily News columnist) Harry Siegel headlined his slam, in tabloid fashion, New York Times to New York: Drop Dead, citing the Times's steady pullback from local coverage.

NY1 anchor Errol Louis headlined his New York magazine column The New York Times Is Making a Huge Mistake, observing:

Assuming even a modest amount of competition, voters can easily find themselves choosing from among hundreds of candidates in any given year to fill offices that control hundreds of billions in annual expenditures and determine New Yorkers’ streets, schools, housing, commerce, public safety, and other vital services. The average New Yorker, short on time, simply can’t be expected to follow the ins and outs of the many feuds, fights, and policy choices that pop up in various districts or the municipal, state, and federal battles that each official will encounter.

Politico quoted Ben Smith, editor in chief of Semafor and former Times media columnist: “The city will be run increasingly by minor political machines, bits of labor unions and other interest groups you didn’t even know existed.”

That also means that dubious "news," ginned up by public relations consultants, will be published more and more by publications of lesser quality.