Bowing to pressure from the White House, The New York Times did not include in its news podcast an audio clip from an on-the-record interview with Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump.
The audio recording stemmed from a June 16 story in the paper, “How Trump Came to Enforce a Practice of Separating Migrant Families.” According to Times reporters Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael Shear, Miller was instrumental in Trump’s decision to implement a zero-tolerance immigration policy that had been considered but ultimately deemed inhumane by previous administrations.
The Trump administration’s policy has elicited sharp bipartisan criticism as it has led to thousands of children being separated from their parents.
Michael Barbaro, who hosts “The Daily” podcast for the Times, said in Tuesday’s episode that he intended to play the audio for a segment on the immigration crisis until Davis heard that the White House was “not at all comfortable” with Miller’s voice being featured on the podcast.
TVNL Comment: When the WH can decide what gets published or aired by a news organization, the Rubicon has been crossed. This is so very frightening.