News: Welcome to The New York Times

Sunday, August 16, 2020

Welcome to The New York Times

A letter from Times editor Dodai Stewart

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We seek the truth and help people understand the world.

Dear Times Reader,

Welcome to The New York Times. I want to take this moment to thank you for registering and introduce myself.

A bit about me: I’m a deputy editor on the Metro desk, conceiving, assigning and editing news stories about the New York area.

At The Times, I work with reporters to uncover difficult stories. These include revealing how an apartment building run by the city lacked heating for 10 years, and how the city’s elite high schools have admitted far fewer Black and Hispanic students in recent years. (As a graduate of one of those schools, Bronx Science, the latter is a subject close to my heart.)

Dodai Stewart in the New York Times newsroom. Sasha Maslov for The New York Times

Now, of course, there are some topics on everyone’s minds: coronavirus and what it means for our lives, the global reckoning with police brutality and racism, the widening wealth gap and more. There isn’t a single desk at The Times that hasn’t been grappling with these issues, including the Metro desk. Reporters have investigated flaws in the government’s response to coronavirus and examined the N.Y.P.D.’s claims that it exercised “restraint” during recent protests.

We know how important journalism is at a time like this. That’s why The Times has invested so heavily in coverage of critical topics like race in America, the struggle against coronavirus and how to adapt to life at home — so you can process and navigate the world we live in today.

And if you need a break from it all, we have plenty to offer. A couple of recent pieces that made a major impact on me were Ellen Barry’s riveting investigation into a family of alleged royals living in a ruined palace in Delhi, and our film critics’ discussion of why Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” still holds up.

If you haven’t already, check out The Morning for a guide to what’s happening and why it matters — sent directly to your inbox. If you’re into podcasts, tune into “The Daily” for in-depth storytelling hosted by Michael Barbaro. And the easiest way to find all this great stuff is on the New York Times app.

Not sure where to start? Consider reading this inspirational story about Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins, a 103-year-old woman who ran the 100-meter dash. Her advice to “look for magic moments” has stuck with me.

Sincerely,