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Ariana Baio
Feb 16, 2023
JK Rowling got £18 million payout from publishers for 2022 amid transgender …
content.jwplatform.com
Just one day after being subjected to a lengthy open letter criticising their coverage of transgender people, the New York Times published an op-ed “In Defense of JK Rowling” which some believe is the publication “trolling” the transgender community.
On Wednesday, approximately 200 NYT contributors signed the open letter expressing “serious concerns about editorial bias in the newspaper’s reporting on transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people.”
The open letter addresses several articles and op-eds published in The Times that have questioned gender-confirming medical care for children and amplified anti-transgender voices.
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Shortly after, GLAAD published an open letter with 100+ other organisations calling for NYT to improve their coverage of transgender people.
But on Thursday morning, the Times published another op-ed about transgender discrimination - this time defending Rowling.
\u201c@nkulw @MollyJongFast It's like they looked at the GLAAD letter and thought "Oh I bet we will get TONS of clicks if we run this tomorrow."\u201d— noah kulwin (@noah kulwin) 1676549507
Rowling has been accused of making transphobic comments by questioning the prejudice the community faces and claiming their presence diminishes women’s rights.
The Times article defends Rowling, claiming her statements were never transphobic and she has been a victim of doxxing, threats, and more for insisting self-declared gender identity is legally insufficient.
Seeing the article, many accused the newspaper of mocking or trolling transgender people and those who expressed concern over The Times reporting.
\u201cHundreds of New York Times contributors and readers: We\u2019re concerned that the anti-trans bias in your paper could have devastating effects, both on individuals and society as a whole. \n\nThe New York Times:\u201d— Aubrey Hirsch (@Aubrey Hirsch) 1676551628
\u201cA child has been murdered for being trans and this is what the New York Times decides to print in response\u201d— nemanja (@nemanja) 1676552389
\u201cHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA The NEW YORK TIMES, following GLAAD's call for responsible and accurate reporting on trans people yesterday, has now publish an Opinion piece, "In Defense of JK Rowling."\n\nCowards.\n\nhttps://t.co/aZvlJ1Y50Y\u201d— Tony Morrison (@Tony Morrison) 1676558516
\u201cHow do I know the New York Times doesn\u2019t respect transgender people? \n\nWhen faced with an open letter that includes criticism backed by essentially every trans reporter/ editor in the industry, including ones they contract with, they condescendingly dismiss them all as activists\u201d— Danielle McLean (@Danielle McLean) 1676555529
The New York Times External Communications Director Charlie Stadtlander said the publication of the op-ed was in no way a response or tied to the open letter.
"This [op-ed] was in progress for over a week prior to yesterday's letters, and published at 5 am on Thursday, just like Pamela Paul's column always does," Stadtlander said.
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