Correct, but the Tom Cotton op-ed in context of all other events lit a spark that caused a lot of internal tension to snap.
One of the most interesting pieces of insight we got at the time was from Matthew Yglesias of Vox Media, who tweeted[1] about discomfort with what was going on in a private media Slack group the day the NYT was reportedly going through turmoil. The tweets were shortly deleted, for clear reasons. From his description, it sounded like an effective struggle session was taking place in the Slack channel, which had been kicked off by the Cotton op-ed.
So the direction has been mounting for years, yes. But the significant shift in internal leadership, direction, and principles within the last few weeks cannot be overestimated.
I saw those tweets from Yglesias when he posted them; I didn't realise he'd deleted him.
To clarify: you say that Yglesias deleted his tweets "for clear reasons" - are the reasons really clear (e.g. Yglesias confirmed his reasons) or is that just your surmise? Also, you mention a private media Slack group but the tweet thread you linked doesn't say anything about a Slack group - is there another link where I can learn more about this?
I remember there was some other woke controversy at the NYT a couple of years ago where a private NYT Slack thread was leaked; I can only imagine the inner turmoil at the NYT given recent controversies (and an extra two years' worth of new, woke graduates entering the org.)
Best I can tell, he would have gotten in immediate trouble for even hinting he had a problem with / that there was anything happening behind the scenes. The specific reason is pure speculation, but I can't see him remaining unpressured to take them down. That said, yes, it's just my surmise.
You have a fair point - looking back on the tweets, I think I conflated two things: that he mentioned something in (presumably Vox) Slack, and that his concerns stemmed from a Slack conversation. The latter has no evidence, and I incorrectly assumed it.
I'm still expecting that the discussion was happening between multiple media orgs - at minimum, NYT and Vox, given context and timing - but I can't speak to more than that.
One of the most interesting pieces of insight we got at the time was from Matthew Yglesias of Vox Media, who tweeted[1] about discomfort with what was going on in a private media Slack group the day the NYT was reportedly going through turmoil. The tweets were shortly deleted, for clear reasons. From his description, it sounded like an effective struggle session was taking place in the Slack channel, which had been kicked off by the Cotton op-ed.
So the direction has been mounting for years, yes. But the significant shift in internal leadership, direction, and principles within the last few weeks cannot be overestimated.
[1]: https://twitter.com/JimLaheyTPBs/status/1268718489654697984