Our Top Editor Answers Questions

‘Independent reporting requires a thick skin’

Patrick Healy, an assistant managing editor for standards and trust, put the questions from readers to Joe Kahn, executive editor. Here are some excerpts from their chat.

Joe, most of our reader questions were about President Trump. Some on the left like our investigative stories digging into Trump’s business dealings and want more of them. Some on the right like our stories about Trump’s effectiveness and impact in office and want more of them. There’s a desire out there for us to referee the news. How do you navigate all of that?

Readers already have access to a vast amount of opinion and commentary on the internet that can validate their worldviews. That’s not our role.

Our approach is to report deeply and thoroughly, surface facts and a range of perspectives on the news, help people understand the world and deliver accountability journalism on issues of public concern. Sometimes that means presenting people with information and ideas that challenge their own preconceptions and beliefs. We regularly scrutinize Trump’s questionable assertions of power and his disregard for democratic or legal norms.

You recently took a trip to China, where you’ve been posted twice as a correspondent. What stood out to you?

When I lived in China, one theme we often reported on was its attempts to catch up with other East Asian countries and the West. Today, it’s obvious China has taken the lead. It has built the world’s best road and high-speed-rail system. It makes plush and sophisticated electric vehicles. It has an (over) abundance of modern housing and new parks and walkways in its orderly and largely safe cities. America seems relatively stagnant by comparison.

Several readers asked how you ensure that our coverage — especially on politically charged topics like U.S.-China relations — prioritizes “objective, fact-based reporting” over a political slant, as a reader from Pennsylvania, Jeff Anderson, put it.

Much of what the outside world knows about China’s complicated economic and political reality, and its intensifying rivalry with the United States, comes from a small but dedicated core of international correspondents. We also ask ourselves regularly if we’re exploring all the major angles and perspectives and telling the full story. My one concern is that we don’t have as many reporters allowed to live in China as we once did, largely because of U.S.-China diplomatic tensions and restrictions on visas and residency permits. There is no substitute for reporters who immerse themselves in the stories they cover by living in the places where events happen.

Some readers feel that our coverage is biased toward Israel. Others see it as pro-Palestinian. How do you think about those conflicting reactions?

The core principles of our journalists in the region, like any other, are reporting widely, covering the news, putting events in context and doing in-depth investigative work for a broad and diverse global audience. Good news reporting isn’t aimed at either pleasing or displeasing partisans. Our focus is on producing journalism that matters to understanding a divisive, complicated story more fully, regardless of a reader’s personal point of view.

We do come under intense scrutiny and often are accused of having a bias in favor of one side or another in that conflict. Some critics tend to assume that if we’re not clearly on their side, we must be on the other side. But when passions run high, producing an authoritative account of the facts, relevant to the broadest possible audience, has even greater value.

What keeps you up at night?

The most challenging part of the job is producing an independent news report when some readers really want a more partisan one. We’re committed to independent journalism, unencumbered by ties to political parties, government, corporations or private interests, at a time when partisanship seems more intense than ever. Our readers of course have their own beliefs and loyalties, and some want to see more coverage that aligns with their views. To practice independent journalism, you need a thick skin.

I believe most readers appreciate the need for independent journalism in a democracy. Democracies rely on a common base of facts and understanding of the news, and they need news sources respected by rival sides. But that’s not always the message we’re hearing from the loudest critics.

Read the rest of their conversation here.

ASK A CORRESPONDENT

Do you have questions about U.S. immigration policies?

Hamed Aleaziz, our immigration reporter, wrote recently about the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on immigration after a man from Afghanistan was accused of shooting two National Guard members. If you have questions for Hamed about the U.S. and its immigration and deportation policies, fill out this form. We’ll pick a few questions for him to answer in The World.

MORE TOP NEWS

A crucial conversation in the Kremlin

President Vladimir Putin met yesterday with Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the U.S. president’s son-in-law, to discuss the conflict in Ukraine. Russian media showed them seated at a large white table in the Kremlin.

Witkoff was expected to present the latest version of a plan to end the war in Ukraine. But in remarks earlier in the day, Putin criticized European countries that have balked at the Trump administration’s peace plans and he threatened Ukraine’s European allies. “We are not planning to fight with Europe, but if Europe suddenly starts a war with us, we are ready right now,” he said.

OTHER NEWS

India ordered that all smartphones come preinstalled with a tracking app to prevent crime. Opposition parties called it a tool of mass surveillance.
Trump unleashed a xenophobic tirade against Somali immigrants, calling them “garbage” he does not want in the U.S.
Thousands of people in Lebanon attended a Mass led by Pope Leo at the site of the 2020 Beirut port explosion. See photos from his first international trip.
Britain announced plans to end jury trials for crimes with sentences under three years in order to clear a large backlog of cases.
Juan Orlando Hernández, a former Honduran president who was convicted on drug charges in the U.S., was released from prison after Trump pardoned him.
The police in South Korea said that 120,000 home cameras were hacked to obtain sexually exploitative material.
The New York Times is holding its DealBook Summit today. Among the headliners are President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan and Garry Kasparov, the chess champion and Russian opposition politician.

SPORTS

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Cricket: The Gabba was once a fortress for Australia. Do the numbers give England any chance tomorrow?

STUDY OF THE DAY

MEOW-1

— Weight-loss drugs are coming for pets. The new trial, whose name stands for “ManagEment of Over Weight cats,” involves injecting a small GLP-1 implant in fat felines. Even if the trial is successful, it’s unclear whether owners will actually want to turn their animals into Ozempets.

MORNING READ

Our books team has spent the year reading hundreds of books and meeting regularly to bicker — er, converse — about them. The result: a list of the 10 best books of the year.

There’s “The Sisters,” which centers on three magnetic Swedish women. “The Director,” a novel translated from German about an Austrian filmmaker forced to make propaganda under Nazi rule. And “Mother Mary Comes to Me,” a memoir from the Indian author Arundhati Roy about her imperfect but inspirational mother.

See the full list here and watch our editors discuss their picks in the video above.

AROUND THE WORLD

The Chinese food chains expanding into the U.S.

Restaurants offering bubble tea, fried chicken and hot pot are seeking a foothold in American cities to escape punishing competition at home.

The tea chain Heytea has opened three dozen U.S. stores since 2023, including a flagship operation in Times Square. Wallace, which has 20,000 restaurants in China, is selling three chicken sandwiches for $10 at its first U.S. outpost. But some adjustments have been necessary: The hot-pot chain Haidilao had to dial back its servers’ attentiveness to reflect the American “sense of boundaries,” an executive said. Read more.

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RECIPE

This lively salad is inspired by laab, a Thai minced meat salad seasoned with fish sauce and served with fresh lettuce leaves and rice. Here, a caramelized ground-beef topping is layered over crisp veggies and cool rice noodles, all drizzled with a tart and spicy vinaigrette.