Ex-New York Times editor Jill Abramson called the paper 'narcissistic'
- Jill Abramson, the former executive editor of The New York Times, went off on her former newspaper, calling it "narcissistic" and saying that it needs a "course correction."
- She also criticized the paper for not covering the campaign of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old who upset 10-term Rep. Joe Crowley on Tuesday night in New York's 14th Congressional District Democratic primary.
Jill Abramson, the former executive editor of The New York Times, went off on her former newspaper, calling it "narcissistic" and saying that it needs a "course correction."
"I've resisted critiquing the place publicly, but this s--- is bad," Abramson told The Daily Beast. Abramson continued by saying the paper needs a "course correction" because "it's making horrible mistakes left and right."
She first criticized the New York Times for not covering the campaign of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old who upset 10-term Rep. Joe Crowley on Tuesday in New York's 14th Congressional District Democratic primary.
"Kind of pisses me off that @nytimes is still asking Who Is Ocasio-Cortez? when it should have covered her campaign," Abramson tweeted on Tuesday. "Missing her rise akin to not seeing Trump's win coming in 2016."
Abramson, who was the first woman to serve as The Gray Lady's executive editor, continued by criticizing the paper's profile of New York Times reporter Ali Watkins, which included details of Watkins' sex life and did not fully examining her journalistic role at the paper.
Watkins recently had her communications seized by the Trump administration. The seizure came amid her years-long romantic relationship with a senior staffer on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which she reported on for years. The staffer, James Wolfe, has been charged with lying to federal investigators about his communications with reporters, including Watkins.
"That story hung a 26-year-old young woman out to dry," Abramson said to The Daily Beast. "It was unimaginable to me what the pain must be like for her."
Abramson also criticized the paper's decision to start a TV show called "The Weekly" with FX, saying that paper is focused "on personal feelings and experiences of NYT journalists covering news."
"More narcissism: It's always about us," Abramson continued. "Yikes. Distance is part of journalism's discipline."
New York Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said in a statement to The Daily Beast that the newspaper has " enormous respect for Jill and deeply appreciate her passion."
"Criticism and feedback helps us do better work and we're always open to it," she said. "On these specifics though, we just disagree with Jill."