The New York Times (NYT)

Founded in 1851, The New York Times is the 3rd largest daily newspaper in the US and is widely regarded as the “newspaper of record”.

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4.1/5

Updated:

July 21, 2021

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Employee Satisfaction

3.0/5

Accessibility to training resources

Employers should provide their employees with the proper resources to improve and be well versed in their specialties. As the human resources department of a company controls the training resources that are available to employees, employees should be sufficiently satisfied with the opportunities for improvement that the department provides and the department should be ranked highly against similarly sized companies.

0.5/1

The New York Times provides its new employees with a plethora of different training materials and opportunities to allow them to comfortably transition into the workplace and wear many hats if needed, however, they do not appear to have a solid training program included in their benefits.

Employee benefits in comparison to industry standards

Every business should provide their employees with benefits to improve their working life and the health of themselves and their family. Standard benefits that should be offered include health insurance, life insurance, dental insurance, paid time off or sick time, paid medical leave, education assistance, and 401k. Employees should have a good sentiment around the perks and benefits their company provides, and the benefits should rank highly against similarly sized companies.

1.0/1

The New York Times provides perks and benefits that are in the top 5% of similarly sized companies. Benefits include but are not limited to Vision Insurance, Paid Holidays, and Tuition Reimbursement, Office Perks, and Health & Wellness.

Overall work environment

A healthy work environment provides several perks such as increasing productivity and creativity and boosting motivation and company morale. Employees should be comfortable working with their peers and feel that they have an adequate amount of freedom to improve. As a result, a company should cultivate a work environment that is highly rated by both employees and against similar companies, and employees should also be pleased with the company's leadership and the opportunities they provide.

0.0/1

Currently, The New York Times facilitates a work environment that is very exclusive to new employees, primarily stemming from internal policies and friction between newer and older employees. Additionally, there is a lack of communication, with the average employee having 0 meetings per day, which forces employees to define what they are responsible for, themselves.

Salaries in comparison to industry standards

Higher salaries and compensation allow employees to be more invested in their jobs and feel that they are valued by the company. It also allowed companies to expect that employees are more productive and that they produce high-quality work. As a result, employers should provide salaries that rate them highly in comparison to similarly-sized companies and employees should be satisfied with their compensation.

1.0/1

The New York Times pays salaries that rank within the top 5% of similarly sized companies, with the average salary being $112,900, and the averages per department being: $104,208 for the marketing department, $250,000 for the communications department, $83,237 for the finance department, and $120,416 for the design department.

Work from home and response to the pandemic

Allowing employees to work from home, gives them the opportunity to work in a more comfortable setting and have fewer distractions. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, being able to work from home is important to keep safe and still be productive. Thus, employees should be satisfied with the company's response and leadership during the pandemic, and a minimal number of employees should be expected to work in the office.

0.5/1

The New York Times currently has a mid-stage work-from-home friendly culture. With the onset of the pandemic, they were able to adapt and facilitate more remote workers, with there now being several full-time remote workers. Additionally, they are very flexible with their work from home policy, however, this is heavily based on your team.

Independence

6.0/6

Avoids conflicts of interest

A news outlet's primary allegiance should be to the public, and conflicts of interest threaten the accuracy of news. Journalists should never be stakeholders in their reporting and must disclose any unavoidable conflicts.

2.0/2

The New York Times has a long ethical journalism handbook dedicated towards outlining its ethical standards including avoiding conflicts of interest, which should be read and followed by every staff member.

Decline gifts, favors, free travel, and special treatment

Responsible journalists should be impartial to the people they cover, so should not accept any special treatment from them, especially from political parties or candidates.

1.0/1

The New York Times ethical handbook states that staff members cannot receive gifts (except trinkets of value $25 or less) or unsolicited awards, and even provides sample letters declining them.

Doesn’t pay for information

Paying sources for information, also known as checkbook journalism, is detrimental to the independence of news outlets and threatens the veracity of that information. Sources may be incentivized to embellish stories to increase their pay, people may be motivated to stage or invent dramatic news, and journalists may be less likely to search for conflicting information if they've already paid for a source.

1.0/1

The New York Times ethical handbook states that staff members may not receive employment or compensation of any sort from people who are part of their coverage, and they may not pay for interviews.

Labels sponsored content

Advertisements and sponsored content on news outlet websites that look and feel like journalism should be clearly marked, as it's very easy for users to confuse them with actual editorial content.

1.0/1

Content paid for by outside companies are marked clearly with “PAID POST,” especially when clicked on. Advertisements on the website are also marked, surrounded by gray, and formatted differently to editorial articles.

Uses original photos

For a news source to be independent, their own photographers should produce the photos in the paper. This also ensures that the events are verified and the photos are accurate and unedited.

1.0/1

The New York Times has a team of photographers and most of the photos with their articles are taken originally for The New York Times. When the paper uses other sources, it is clearly marked underneath the photo.

Objectivity & Fact Checking

8.0/10

Avoids editorializing news stories

The publisher must clearly distinguish news and opinion in the paper and website. There should be no ambiguity about whether an article is in the news or opinion section.

2.0/2

When reading an article, it is obvious whether it is an opinion or news because of indications throughout the page. In addition, staff members cannot engage in activities that could create conflicts of interests, which would potentially editorialize news.

Avoids publishing incorrect information

The publication has rigorous processes for verifying all information before publishing. This includes having multiple people review each story.

2.0/2

The New York Times has high standards for accuracy with careful fact-checking verified with official sources, according to their policies.

Corrections are clear

Publications should have a corrections page that links to corrected articles with an explanation of what was changed. In addition, the corrected article should have a note explaining the correction.

2.0/2

According to their policy, the New York Times immediately makes corrections when they learn of an error, regardless of the scale or time it was visible.

Don’t purposefully bait emotions

Stories should use neutral language where appropriate. Some stories will naturally evoke certain emotions like pride or sadness, but journalists should not intentionally bait these.

2.0/2

The New York Times uses neutral language in their reporting. Authors do not intentionally put their own opinion and emotions into their news articles.

Open minded to publishing unpopular stories and studies

The publication considers a wide range of opinions, both in the people they interview for their news articles and opinion writers.

0.0/2

The Opinion in the New York Times often rejects opinions that lean conservative. For example, James Bennett resigned as editorial page editor after Senator Tom Cotton (R) wrote an opinion piece calling for the military to uphold public order. Other opinion writers publicly criticized the piece, before an editor’s note was written on the article saying it should never have been published.

Quality of Sources

7.0/8

Anonymous sources

Judges stories on how many anonymous sources are used. Fewer are better.

1.0/2

The New York Times simply requires higher-up editors to approve the use of anonymous sources, and authors are not required to provide background information such as potential biases.

Credible research

Excluding breaking news stories, articles must have credible studies and statistics that are linked to them.

2.0/2

According to their ethics guide, journalists are required to verify certain information with official documents. In addition, studies from external sources are linked within the articles.

Interviews with relevant/credible people

Interviews are conducted with various people. This includes eyewitnesses at the sites of breaking stories, experts, and people with diverse views on new policy proposals or studies.

2.0/2

The New York Times conducts interviews with relevant people, and they list important steps on their ethics guide to ensure information is published in the article correctly.

Photographic and/or video evidence for breaking stories

Original photos and/or videos are provided to better show the reader the site of a breaking story.

2.0/2

The New York Times consistently provides relevant photographs for breaking news stories. These are often at the top of an article or placed in another relevant location to supplement the text.

User Experience

4.5/6

Affordability

Providing high-quality news at an affordable price is important for the average user. News outlets should offer news subscriptions that are comparable to the average price for a news subscription, such that the general audience can afford their subscription.

0.0/1

Given that the average news subscription costs $120 per year ($10 per month), The New York Times’ pricing is 170% the average cost, costing $204 per year ($17 per month).

Article layout in actual paper

The layout of articles in a newspaper makes the article more interesting for the reader. A good article layout can keep them on their toes and make them excited to continue reading. Hence, newspapers should not follow a standard article layout, but should instead alter the format to highlight important details and make the article more understandable for the average reader.

1.0/1

Though similar to the average layout for newspapers, The New York Times has a history of altering its paper’s layout for both special and normal issues, in order to place an emphasis on important details. Moreover, they make sure to curate a layout that is very reader-friendly.

Clarity of articles for general audience

Writing news articles that are understandable for the general audience is vital for a publication, simply so that anyone can read their articles. News outlets should not cater their articles for a specific demographic, but should instead use language and visuals that are clear for someone with an average education and demographic background.

0.5/1

Looking at the New York Times’ reader demographic, it is clear that their articles target very educated individuals, who are familiar with the subject at hand. In 2020, 71% of their readers had a university degree, however, even though 38% of their readers earned more than $75,000, the New York Times was also able to attract readers from all income classes.

Graphics, visuals, and videos are included where necessary

Graphics, visuals, and videos all enhance the degree to which an article can be appealing to a reader. Not only can they pull them in, but they can also add to the article, and express points that cannot be properly expressed in words. Publications should use several relevant graphics, visuals, and videos in their articles, and alter the form they appear in, whether it be relevant Twitter posts, up-close photographs, and original drawings.

1.0/1

The New York Times’ graphics, visuals, and videos, all provide a unique perspective to the reader, that gives them more insight into the article and adds details that may not have been able to be expressed otherwise. Simply put, they are superb.

Lack of intrusive ads

Ads are a major form of income for multiple different news outlets, but they can also take away from the reader's experience if they are not placed in appropriate locations or are too distracting. News outlets should format ads, on both their website and their paper (if applicable), such that they are in places that naturally flow with the user's read, there are a minimal number of them, and so that they do not take away from the user's experience.

1.0/1

On both their website and paper, The New York Times has a minimal amount of ads, however, for those that are in place, they are very non-intrusive, and specifically designed to be in strategic places that do not take away from the reader’s experience.

Website UI

A good user interface can make it easy for users to navigate a site and more likely to continue reading news on the publication's site. It also provides them the necessary information to understand the quality of the news and if they would be interested in reading an article. A publication's website should have clearly defined news sections and headings, and have article previews that include a relevant visual, a clear title, and a brief summary that gives the user an overview of what the article discusses.

1.0/1

The New York Times’ website is nicely laid out, with each section being easily accessible for the average user. Moreover, there is a minimal number of ads, with the ones that are there, not being very intrusive to the user’s experience, but rather being in between different sections.