James Bennet published an article written by Tom Cotton (R-KY) calling for any means to quell riots in the US. In response editors claim a failure in oversight.

Instead, the editing process was rushed and flawed, and senior editors were not sufficiently involved,

In a scathing article against Tom Cotton and this oversight, Kara Swisher writes:

Readers may miss a critical frame of reference when there are so many frames to choose from. And some public figure may take advantage of that, slipping in and out of frames like the portraits at Hogwarts, without being tagged for revolting behavior in one when moving to the next.

Bennet apologized at an all-staff meeting at the NYT and resigned immediately after controversies over Cotton’s article. A.G Sulzherger is the lead publisher for the paper. He told reporters, “Last week we saw a significant breakdown in our editing processes, not the first we’ve experienced in recent years,”

Regardless of whether we agree with Sen. Cotton’s justifications or clarifications, it is hard not to question the political motives of this decision. Although controversial, the issue of federal intervention is not something that we want to happen behind closed doors.