Opinion: Struggle inside The Wall Street Journal

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. Tuesday, February 14, 2017 [The New York Times]( [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [Opinion]( Tuesday, February 14, 2017 For much of American history, newspapers have had a proudly ideological bent. That’s why there are still papers with names like the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Republican-American, in Connecticut. But journalism changed in the early 20th century. Reporters began to see themselves as professional fact-gatherers rather than as partisan warriors. Publishers realized they were better off appealing to the maximum number of readers, rather than carving out a niche. So newspapers started striving for non-ideological objectivity (even if, as every reader knows, they don’t always achieve it), and they ceded ideological argument to the opinion pages. Newspapers in other countries, however, have taken a different approach. Many of them embrace ideology, in both their news and opinion sections.  Rupert Murdoch, an Australian who achieved fame in Britain, comes from this tradition. His media properties tend to advance conservative causes. But after buying The Wall Street Journal a decade ago, Murdoch vowed to maintain the existing standards of its newsroom. My [column today]( examines the anxiety among many Journal staff members who think Murdoch isn’t keeping his word on that score. I think they are right to be worried. For anyone interested in more journalistic history, I recommend “[Discovering the News]( by Michael Schudson, and “[Covering America]( by Christopher Daly. The full Opinion report from The Times follows, including Wendy Palen on [science in the age of Trump]( David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist  Editorial [A New Beginning for Israel and the United States]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD President Trump takes the plunge into Middle East peacemaking.  Op-Ed Columnist [Gerald Ford is one possible model for resisting the threat Donald Trump may create.]( [How Should One Resist the Trump Administration?]( By DAVID BROOKS Depending on what kind of threat Donald Trump represents, there are historical models for resistance. Op-Ed Columnist [Gerard Baker, The Wall Street Journal’s top editor, in 2014.]( [The Struggle Inside The Wall Street Journal]( By DAVID LEONHARDT Staff members are right to worry about the paper “shaving off the edges” of some stories. The Conversation [No More Rules of the Game]( By GAIL COLLINS AND BENJAMIN DOMENECH In the Trump administration, even the disruptions are being disrupted.  ADVERTISEMENT  Op-Ed Contributors [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who will meet with President Trump in Washington on Wednesday.]( [Can This ‘Special Relationship’ Be Saved?]( By STEVEN SIMON AND AARON DAVID MILLER Strains are already showing between the Trump administration and the Israeli government.  Editorial [A polling place in Manchester, N.H., on Election Day.]( [The Latest Voter-Fraud Lie]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Donald Trump won the election, but he and his administration continue to spread untruths about illegal voting. Editorial [Water flowing Saturday over the emergency spillway, bottom left, of the Oroville Dam in California.]( [In Peril at Oroville Dam, a Parable on Infrastructure]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Warnings of the current threat were ignored, as have many warnings about our crumbling public works. Editorial Notebook [The ‘Caddyshack’ President]( By ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON President Trump risks national security in the service of his own vanity.  Michael George Haddad [Op-Ed Contributor]( [When Canadian Scientists Were Muzzled by Their Government]( By WENDY PALEN American scientists should learn from their northern neighbors. Reject interference. Stay vigilant. Stay scientists.  Op-Ed Contributor [Sturgill Simpson performing at the Grammy Awards on Sunday.]( [Make the Grammys More Like the Oscars]( By MIKE DOUGHTY In addition to performances by Adele and Beyoncé, the awards show should highlight lesser-known artists. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [A Border Patrol agent at the fence between the United States and Mexico on the outskirts of Nogales, Ariz., last year.]( [Latino Americans Pity You, President Trump]( By HÉCTOR TOBAR They are strong in the knowledge that the bully’s bluster and lies are designed to hide a sense of inferiority. Fixes [The Telford state prison in New Boston, Tex. Texas has one of the nation’s highest incarceration rates, but has reduced it in recent years.]( [Even in Texas, Mass Imprisonment Is Going Out of Style]( By TINA ROSENBERG In many states, reducing the rate of incarceration has become a bipartisan goal. Vietnam ‘67 [Le Duan, left, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, with Ho Chi Minh at a rally in Hanoi in 1966.]( [Who Called the Shots in Hanoi?]( By LIEN-HANG NGUYEN The world thought Ho Chi Minh led North Vietnam. The world was wrong.  ADVERTISEMENT  In Case You Missed It: Sunday Review Op-Ed Columnist [A vigil in Roseburg, Ore., for victims of the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in October 2015. The motive of the gunman, a student, was not clear.]( [Husbands Are Deadlier Than Terrorists]( By NICHOLAS KRISTOF Trump’s focus on refugees diverts from real dangers.  Letter [President Xi Jinping of China in Lima, Peru, last year. The fact that President Trump and Mr. Xi had not talked since Mr. Trump took office in January had drawn increasing scrutiny.]( [Trump’s China Reversal: A Bully Backs Down]( A reader suggests that the president easily bullies those weaker than him but “folds like a cheap tent” when he faces someone stronger. Letter [Mental Health Professionals Warn About Trump]( Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals write that “too much is at stake to be silent any longer.”  SIGN UP FOR THE OP-DOCS NEWSLETTER Watch [new Op-Docs]( read discussions with filmmakers and find out about upcoming events.  FOLLOW OPINION [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytopinion]( [Pinterest] [Pinterest]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Opinion Today newsletter. 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