We must ask tough questions in era of misinformation, says New York Times chairman

A.G. Sulzberger, chairman and publisher of The New York Times, stressed that "democracy depends" on quality journalism to help bring the public closer to the truth amid rampant disinformation.

A. G. Sulzberger, chairman and publisher of The New York Times, second from left, speaks at a fireside chat after giving a keynote address to students and faculty at the Seoul National University (SNU) in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, on Thursday. From left, Prof. Lee Eun-ju, an associate dean of academic affairs at SNU’s College of Social Sciences, moderates the chat with The Times’ Sulzberger, Carolyn Ryan, managing editor, and Choe Sang-hun, the Seoul bureau chief. [PARK SANG-MOON]

A. G. Sulzberger, chairman and publisher of The New York Times, stressed that "democracy depends" on quality journalism to help bring the public closer to the truth amid rampant disinformation.

"This is an era of misinformation," Sulzberger said as he sat for an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily, a publishing partner of the New York Times, and the JoongAng Ilbo at Seoul National University (SNU) in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, on Thursday. "We need an independent news organization seeking the truth. This is an era of polarization. We need independent news organizations helping people understand each other."

Noting that distrust in journalism is "a really significant challenge," Sulzberger stressed that independent reporters "surface the hidden information and ask the tough questions so that the public can know the full truth, and democracy depends on someone playing that role."

With the United States set to hold its presidential election in November next year and Korea its parliamentary elections in April, Sulzberger stressed that "politicians actually have an important role" in preventing the spread of disinformation and promoting responsible journalism.

"Politicians in many parts of the world had been using rhetoric, like 'fake news' and 'enemy of the people' to demonize journalism," he said, oftentimes "for short-term advantages for themselves."

Sulzberger called this "anti-patriotic," adding that a "democratic leader should know that a free press has an important role to play."

During his time as an editor at The New York Times, Sulzberger authored the now famous "Innovation Report" in 2014, leading a team of journalists and experts on a sweeping audit of the paper's digital practices and guiding its successful digital transformation.

As the chief architect of the company's shift into the digital media era and its business strategy, Sulzberger has helped increase The Times's digital subscriber base to nearly 10 million from 800,000 in 2014.

Around a decade ago, The Times, like other media outlets, faced "really profound pressure" over how to approach a digital shift.

Sulzberger said that his report had one central idea, which was the need for a "culture shift," one that was "more creative, collaborative, experimental" and more "oriented around the digital product than the print one."

This shift meant reporters left behind their longtime obsession with being featured on the much-coveted front page of the newspaper and embraced the reach of The Times' newer platforms, such as its popular podcast, The Daily.

"The thing that every reporter secretly wants is to have their story selected for this day as The Daily," he said. "And that culture change, I think, unlocked a lot of creativity once we started to recognize that we could do work that was just as important, just as serious and just as good, in totally different formats, and reaching totally different people."

In May 2021, The New York Times officially launched its new Asia hub in central Seoul after moving its digital news operation from its decades-old headquarters in Hong Kong. This followed a decision to relocate its news operation the previous year in response to concerns about a sweeping national security law passed by China.

"The increasing crackdowns that accelerated in 2020 on free speech and the free press made it clear to us that we would have to relocate the bulk of our operations," Sulzberger said on the move.

"The sad truth is that the region doesn't have a ton of options. And of those options, Korea stood out for having some strong protections."

He noted that while Korea is not perfect, having an "overly broad defamation law," Seoul "stood out as being more hospitable to a press with a vibrant media culture."

A. G. Sulzberger, chairman and publisher of The New York Times, sits for an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the Seoul National University (SNU) in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, on Thursday. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Later Thursday, Sulzberger gave a keynote address on the topic of "The Threat to the Free Press" to SNU students and faculty, addressing the need to fight for independent journalism and assessing the challenges.

"I'm here today because Korea has moved toward embracing free expression while others in the region have retreated," he said to students, referring to the relocation from Hong Kong. "This country stood out as more tolerant of a vibrant, independent media."

He said the "very different trajectories of Hong Kong and Seoul — one city suppressing speech and stagnating, the other embracing speech and rising — shows the wisdom of that belief."

Sulzberger also addressed the many risks faced in journalism, including the loss of jobs, the rise of technology giants and social media, the advent of AI and increasing polarization.

He said former U.S. President Donald Trump had a hand in growing "opportunistic and unprecedented attacks on the rights and legitimacy of the press."

"We can't take press freedom for granted," Sulzberger said. "In countless places around the world, including the United States, we are seeing growing threats to the free press and even eroding support for the idea of free expression."

He also warned that the "rise of AI, which many estimate will have produced over 90 percent of all online content in just a few years, will only further blur the line between what's real and what isn't."

Sulzberger sat for a fireside chat with and Carolyn Ryan, managing editor, and Choe Sang-hun, the Seoul Bureau Chief, moderated by Prof. Lee Eun-ju, an associate dean of academic affairs at SNU's College of Social Sciences, to further discuss the role of journalism in society and combating disinformation.

A. G. Sulzberger, chairman of The New York Times Company, gives a keynote address to students and faculty at the Seoul National University (SNU) in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, on Thursday. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Sulzberger made his first visit to Seoul this week. He was accompanied by other executives and editors from The Times, including Stephen Dunbar-Johnson, the president international of The New York Times Company, in his visit to SNU.

A graduate of Brown University, Sulzberger previously worked as a reporter at The Providence Journal and The Oregonian. He later joined The Times working as a metro reporter, national correspondent, associate editor for newsroom strategy and deputy publisher before taking over from his father as publisher in 2017.

He is the sixth member of the Ochs-Sulzberger family to serve as publisher at The Times, since the newspaper was purchased by Adolph Ochs in a bankruptcy sale in 1896. The Times was founded in 1851 and currently reports from over 160 countries.

The following are edited excerpts of the interview.

Q. In 2014, you came up with the Innovation Report, leading The New York Times to its digital transformation. What was the thought process behind the report, and can you say that its initial vision and goals have been achieved some 10 years later?

A. At the time, we were experiencing something that I think every newspaper in the world has experienced, which is the really profound pressure that the shift to digital put on our business and our audience. At the time, everyone had ideas about what to do. And what I really believed more than anything was that you need to create a culture that is willing to keep up with the pace of change of our audience and of the world that we cover. The innovation report was full of specific ideas [ …] But it really was built on one central idea, which is we needed a culture shift. And that was to a culture that was more creative, collaborative, experimental, and much, much more oriented around the digital product than the print one. If that was a very big, but fairly abstract idea, around a theory of change, the exciting thing was how quickly really great ideas for change started emerging.

For 160 years, the most important part of the New York Times was the front page of the newspaper. And if you were a reporter, all you wanted to do was get your story out to the front page of the newspaper. That was the best, best thing that could happen. Probably two years after the Innovation Report, we launched The Daily — that's our podcast — and it becomes the most important part of the newspaper. And the thing that every reporter secretly wants is to have their story selected for this day as The Daily. And that culture change, I think, unlocked a lot of creativity once we started to recognize that we could do work that was just as important, just as serious and just as good, in totally different formats, and reaching totally different people.

Next year will see a presidential election in the United States and a general election in Korea. Responsible media outlets play an important role in relaying information during election years, and how does The Times plan on combating disinformation and growing public distrust in journalism?

Distrust in journalism, distrust of journalists, is a really significant challenge and one that is important for our institutions, for news organizations. It's also important for society because a free society needs a free and reliable source of information. And that's the role that journalists play, independent journalists in particular. We are the ones who surface the hidden information and ask the tough questions so that the public can know the full truth. And democracy depends on someone playing that role.

I think the public doesn't understand a lot of what journalism is and what motivates us. I think that the [social media] platforms need to do more to differentiate in quality journalism, and I would say much more to differentiate quality journalism from just another person spouting off their ideas. Right now, there's something about the construction of social media that it all looks the same. So it's harder to understand that one person actually may have done a lot of work, you know, to develop an informed view and bring expertise to it. And then I think politicians actually have an important role here, too. Politicians in many parts of the world have been using rhetoric like "fake news" and "enemy of the people" to demonize journalism, and often, for short-term advantage for themselves. I think of that as being anti-patriotic. A democratic leader should know that a free press has an important role to play.

What did it mean for the company to choose Seoul as Asia's New York Times digital hub?

Our Asia operations had long been based in Hong Kong. The increasing crackdowns that accelerated in 2020 on free speech and the free press made it clear to us that we would have to relocate the bulk of our operations. We still have reporters in Hong Kong, and we're covering Hong Kong because it's an important city and obviously a global hub. But we needed to move our reporting and editing operations, dozens and dozens of journalists, to a country more receptive to the free press.

The sad truth is that the region doesn't have many options. And of those options, Korea stood out for having some strong protections. It's not to say Korea is perfect. I think there have been some real challenges around what I think many regard as an overly broad defamation law, but even with that, Korea stood out as being more hospitable to the press, with a vibrant media culture.

We do want to be good members of the community. And we've got media partners here in Korea. I'm very proud to be here at the university, and now showing our investment in the community.

What is your bigger vision for The Times?

Our goal at The New York Times is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. That's our mission statement.

This is an era of misinformation. We need an independent news organization seeking the truth. This is an era of polarization. We need independent news organizations helping people understand each other.

Our industry is very vulnerable. The future of the free press is not assured, and I am proud of and really committed to The New York Times being a place that is trying to find a path forward for quality journalism, for independent reporting, because I think that if we can find that path and share what we find, that it will help news organizations in my country, in Korea and all over the world.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]