But His Emails

For New York Times readers, the biggest story of 2016 was Hillary's emails. In 2026, the only emails in the news are Jeffrey Epstein's.

Biggest story of 2016: Hillary's emails.

Biggest story of 2026: Jeffrey's emails.

As the future of America and the world still hangs in the balance because of the journalistic failures of 2016, it's sad to read today's New York Times coverage today of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal (gift link).

One line in particular jumped out at me:

The Caligula-like antics of Jeffrey Epstein and friends occurred over two decades that saw the decline of America’s manufacturing sector and the subprime mortgage crisis, in which millions of Americans lost their homes.

To the Times in 2026, the Epstein files reveal a "story of impunity" that is "all the more outrageous now in the midst of rising populist anger and ever-growing inequality."

For the survivors, this kind of coverage is coming at least 20 years too late.

For American voters, it's a reminder of what the Times thought so much more important 10 years ago.

Hillary's emails dominated the NYT's coverage in 2016

As Vox reported in 2017, in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election:

"Hillary Clinton’s emails got as much front-page coverage in 6 days as policy did (in the final 10 weeks)."

As Media Matters wrote in 2024:

"Obsessive news media focus on Clinton’s server in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign helped Trump to victory, even as Comey ultimately reconfirmed that no charges were appropriate in the case."

That obsessive coverage included 15 front-page articles about the Clinton email server on the front page of The New York Times between October 29 and November 4, 2016 — plus 22 more non-front page articles.

Throughout 2016, as QAnon conspiracies spread online and tabloid slander relentlessly assailed supermarket shoppers, The New York Times allowed the real story of pedophile elites to go unreported.

It wasn't until July 2025, six months after Trump was inaugurated for the second time, that The New York Times finally gave its readers a truly extensive look at the joined-at-the-hip, 15-year friendship of Trump and Epstein.

As with their story about Epstein's emails today, the paper's coverage was much too little, way too late.

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