The New York Times War on Women?

It’s quite possible that ousted Editor Jill Abramson had some real personality problems – or was “pushy.” But the Times top managers aren’t denying reports that she made significantly less than her male predecessor -- $475,000 compared to $503,000.

Photo Credit: LOC.gov

What’s almost certain is that if a high level female executive was ousted in such an abrupt matter in any other corporation, the Times editorial pages certainly – and quite likely the news pages – would hammer away at such a company as being part of a larger problem, and maybe even invoke “war on women” language.

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina nailed the Times in a classic way on Meet the Press Sunday.

“Here is a woman who [has] been told she has an abrasive style — how many times have women heard that? She has been a distinguished reporter for The New York Times, an editor for three years. There is not a single word in her departure announcement about her contributions, about her record, about her time at The New York Times. She is excised from history. No more lectures, please, from The New York Times about the treatment of women.”

“Arthur Sulzberger, the more he talks, the more it becomes clear to me that of course she was treated differently. Whatever the issues in the newsroom were, the dynamics around her departure would not have been the same for a man. … There wasn’t a single positive comment about her in the statement about her departure. Not thank you for your time. Not thank you for a wonderful record of service to The New York Times. Not a word. That is disrespect of the most public form.”

 

After Howell Raines’s editorship during the Jayson Blair fabrication scandal that humiliated the newspaper, Times staffers also said he was a jerk. Yet, he was treated far better at his ouster than Abramson who did nothing to harm the Times reputation.

Pay equity is an important matter, but has been trivialized by President Barack Obama, Sen. Harry Reid, and yes, the New York Times with their silly “war on women” fiction, which I explain the history of and how it insults women in my piece for the Capital Research Center. The White House’s 77 cents pay stat has been thoroughly discredited, but the New York Times case seem to be a real problem in terms of a woman doing the exact same job as a man and being treated very differently.