NEW YORK – James Bennet resigned on Sunday (7) from his job as the editorial page editor of The New York Times, days after the newspaper’s opinion section, which he oversaw, published a much-criticized op-ed by a US senator calling for a military response to civic unrest in American cities.

“Last week we saw a significant breakdown in our editing processes, not the first we’ve experienced in recent years,” said A. G. Sulzberger, the publisher, in a note to the staff on Sunday announcing Bennet’s departure.

In a brief interview, Sulzberger added: “Both of us concluded that James would not be able to lead the team through the next leg of change that is required.”

At an all-staff virtual meeting on Friday (5), Bennet, 54, apologized for the op-ed, saying that it should not have been published and that it had not been edited carefully enough. An editors’ note posted late Friday noted factual inaccuracies and a “needlessly harsh” tone. “The essay fell short of our standards and should not have been published,” the note said.

The op-ed, by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., had ‘Send In the Troops’ as its headline. “One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers,” he wrote. The piece, published last Wednesday (3), drew anger from readers and Times journalists. Bennet declined to comment.

Bennet’s swift fall from one of the most powerful positions in American journalism comes as hundreds of thousands of people have marched in recent weeks in protest of racism in law enforcement and society.

(Source:  By Marc Tracy,   New York Times)