What the media can learn from the Albany Times Union's Andrew Cuomo coverage
From its headlines to its reporting to its editorials, the Times Union proved itself far more competent than its competitors in covering Andrew Cuomo's fall from grace.
The Albany Times Union wasted no time. On March 6, 150 days prior to the New York Times’ editorial calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign, the newspaper covering the state’s capitol did the same. The conclusion was not reached lightly; the Times Union had endorsed Cuomo three times over, but the lies about nursing home deaths combined with the allegations of sexual harassment made the choice to publish Resign, Mr. Cuomo absolutely necessary. “Enough,” the editorial stated. “Mr. Cuomo has squandered the public’s trust at a time when it’s needed more than ever.”
That trust slowly withered away in the months to come, as reporting from the Times Union, in addition to several New York-based outlets including the Times, revealed the harm Cuomo had inflicted upon women who worked for him. Like Cuomo, the New York Times decided to wait until the Attorney General report was released to make any definitive call on Cuomo’s fitness for office. Finally, on August 3, the day the report was released, the Times editorial board concluded You Should Resign, Governor Cuomo by writing, “If Mr. Cuomo cares for the well-being of the state and its citizens as much as he has said he does over the years, he needs to do the right thing and step down.”
On Tuesday, Cuomo delivered a rambling will-he-or-won’t-he monologue in which he touted his accomplishments, acknowledged his shortcomings and announced he was leaving somewhere in between. The headline writers at all the major newspapers around the state and the nation got it wrong. The Times Union got it right.
From Long Island to Buffalo, Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., the headlines claimed Cuomo either resigned, quit, or agreed to step down. The Times Union laid out the situation more accurately: Women’s accounts force Cuomo’s exit. This headline outshone the others because it snatched the agency away from a man who had exhibited sexually predatory behavior and assigned it to the women whose bravery in speaking out led to the governor ultimately being pushed out the Mansion door. Cuomo did not willingly quit; he was left with no choice, staring down the barrel of impeachment if he remained defiant.
Throughout Cuomo’s precipitous fall from grace, despite being up against outlets with far more employees and resources, the Times Union managed to break stories about the governor’s groping, refused to adjust its no-off-the-record policy for Cuomo’s top aide Melissa DeRosa — editor Casey Seiler, in an interview with the New Yorker, said he told her, “Judge us by what we publish, not by the questions we ask” — and displayed a level of ethical judgment around sensitive topics that was significantly lacking in other outlets, both print and broadcast.
There is a distinct advantage in having limited resources. On Wednesday, the New York Times littered its pages with follow-up stories from Cuomo’s buried-lede bombshell on Tuesday. Inevitably, some pieces — like this one: New York Women Weigh Admiration for Cuomo Against Allegations — were incredibly inconsiderate to the moment. Meanwhile, the Times Union was not thirsting for clickable Cuomo content. Chris Churchill’s column was on point, recognizing that now is not the time to reflect on the man’s legacy. He began, simply, “New York will be better for this.”
New York media can be better too if it learns a lesson from the Times Union reporters and editors who covered Cuomo, where they chose to hold restraint and when they decided enough was enough. The newspaper of record may not reside in the state’s capitol, but when it comes to a once-beloved governor being held accountable for his innumerable indiscretions, no paper recorded that narrative better than Albany.