2. To his admirers the meaning of "HE KEPT THE PAPER STRAIGHT" is simple: Rosenthal was an old-school newsman who made sure the paper upheld the rules of objectivity. He kept the wildmen like Sy Hersh from taking over in the 1970s. But there's another meaning.
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3. HE KEPT THE PAPER STRAIGHT: As it happens, Rosenthal was a notorious homopobe. He made it a specific policy for the paper not to use the term gay, he denied a plumb job to a gay man for being gay, and he minimized the AIDS crisis. Charles Kaiser with the receipts.pic.twitter.com/VhpsuEKRt9
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4. Here's an account from the Times itself about how Rosenthal maintained the homophobic edict from the publisher to not use the word gay (which was only overturned after Rosenthal retired as executive editor. HE KEPT THE PAPER STRAIGHT.https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/19/us/gay-pride-lgbtq-new-york-times.html?fbclid=IwAR1-tm_EPzhGWSOw2DmobEB1LfPCPMX8_5S1qSjkF2symVkG5RDdR78or1s …
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5. Here's a good account from former Times reporter Charles Kaiser of the paper and homophobia (including a few paragraphs on Rosenthal). HE KEPT THE PAPER STRAIGHThttps://www.nybooks.com/daily/2012/09/25/when-new-york-times-came-out-closet/ …
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6. I'd be curious to know more about the history of Rosenthal's tombstone. Did he pick the epitaph or did the family? If him, it indicates that he thought his homophobia was his major achievement. If his family, it could be a joke of some kind.
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No homo?
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It was in danger of turning gay?
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Rosenthal thought so, yes.
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Brit Hume suggests that Rosenthal picked it with an eye toward his growing conservatism. Interestingly, Hersh is very complimentary of Rosenthal in his memoir and credits him for supporting his reporting on the CIA, comparing them to Eichmann.https://twitter.com/brithume/status/1162159744779509760?s=21 …
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