Suppressed: Confessions of a Former ‘New York Times’ Washington Correspondent

Smith, who reported for the New York Times in the 1960s and ’70s before becoming a lawyer, airs his former employer’s dirty laundry in this provocative account. Among the sins committed by executive editor Abe Rosenthal and other higher-ups of the era, according to Smith, were not breaking the news on the Watergate scandal (despite having the scoop on the Washington Post), cozying up to government sources (the paper’s Pentagon correspondent didn’t report on the 1968 My Lai massacre until the U.S. Army issued its report in 1970, Smith notes), being unwilling to challenge corporate interests, and fostering an old-boy-network management style. Smith also excoriates the Times for its coverage of the Trump presidency, arguing that the paper’s clear bias against Trump made it easy for conservatives to dismiss critical coverage of the president’s actions. “Even a crazy, lying fascist out of touch with reality deserves accuracy and fairness from the journalists covering him,” Smith writes. Jumping from the past to the present and blending his own personal grievances with incisive behind-the-scenes details about the Times and other media outlets, Smith’s takedown is a mixed bag. Still, readers on both sides of the political spectrum will appreciate seeing one of America’s most venerable media institutions get knocked down a peg. (May)