NYT quietly rewrites a Sanders profile from glowing to doubtful
A New York Times piece on Bernie Sanders's legislative record first ran as a largely positive account of how he won amendments, then was substantially reworked after publication to add skeptical paragraphs about his effectiveness.
The undisclosed rewrite served the Clinton side of the Democratic primary by casting doubt on Sanders's record.
What was reported
A New York Times piece on Bernie Sanders's legislative record first ran as a largely positive account of how he won amendments, then was substantially reworked after publication to add skeptical paragraphs about his effectiveness.
What actually happened
In the middle of the Democratic primary, the Times revised the article's framing and tone without any editor's note telling readers it had changed. Sanders supporters documented the before-and-after versions. Public editor Margaret Sullivan wrote that the piece had moved from nearly glowing to somewhat disparaging and that the paper should have disclosed the revisions; Times editors said the changes only added campaign context.
The proof
The Times's own public editor faulted the undisclosed revisions, and side-by-side versions of the article were published by critics.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
NYT quietly rewrites a Sanders profile from glowing to doubtful — Retracted. The Times's own public editor faulted the undisclosed revisions, and side-by-side versions of the article were published by critics. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/nyt-sanders-stealth-edit/
Original reporting
- Election Law Blog excerpt of the original NYT article (secondary copy)https://electionlawblog.org/2016/bernie-sanders-scored-victories-for-years-via-legislative-side-doors/
- Rolling Stone (Taibbi): How the NYT changed the Sanders storyhttps://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-new-york-times-sandbagged-bernie-sanders-20160315
Corrections, findings & records
- TheWrap: NYT public editor questions 'stealth editing' of Sanders storyhttps://www.thewrap.com/new-york-times-public-editor-questions-stealth-editing-of-bernie-sanders-story
- iMediaEthics: Public editor says the Sanders article needed more transparencyhttps://www.imediaethics.org/nytimes-bernie-sanders-article-needed-more-transparency-public-editor-says/
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: Election Law Blog excerpt of the original NYT article (secondary copy)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://electionlawblog.org/2016/bernie-sanders-scored-victories-for-years-via-legislative-side-doors/
- Archived copy: Rolling Stone (Taibbi): How the NYT changed the Sanders storyhttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-new-york-times-sandbagged-bernie-sanders-20160315