In what seems like eons ago, my mother who was 92 when she died 3 years ago, introduced me to you via her Portland Oregonian. We exchanged and discussed your articles through the mail (and shared your books). You are a gem (as she would say). Please take heart. You are making an incredibly worthwhile difference in the world. Thank you.
76
I'm a grumpy old white guy.I read every one of your columns. Every last one. You are a voice of decency at a time when it is greatly needed. I am also very fond of rural Oregon. Thanks for writing.
30
Thank you for continuing to shine a light on the horrors around the world. The waste of excess ink on Trump has become exhausting. There are more than 7 billion people on the planet and fewer than 1 billion are white. The rest of the world is a factor in our existence, whether or not we want to pay attention.
19
Mr. Kristof,
You are doing your part. Happy Holidays to you.
10
Dear Nicholas,
I find times columnists very boring, predictable and insular. The editorial board is like a cult. Hence I avoid the 'opinion' columns of the times, even though I read nytimes everyday.
You are the only exception. I like the diverse things you talk about, and your moderate political stance. I think you point out extremely important human-rights issues. You are a true humanist, unlike the mostly hypocritical liberals you make that claim.
2
I read your columns (this one as well as the ones you noted as “duds”) in paper. I suspect that a large number of your readers do too.
One suggestion to increase clicks: get the news quiz staff to build in questions on important topics. I compete with my husband each week to see how we do on the quiz, against both each other as well as other readers. The topics are often front page only. I suggest using the power of reader competition to ramp up interest in reading more than the headlines.
Your #1 dud of all time has to be the column from the early 200s in which you falsely accused an emotionally fragile man of being the anthrax spore terrorist. Months later he committed suicide. I don’t think you’ve ever addressed this particular column nor your culpability in his death.
1
You may have to do a Trumpian lede and opening graph, before moving on to the real topic of the day! Ugly, but...
You are the best, duds or not...
Just signed up to get your articles sent to me. Your Mom should never be alone.
Dear Mr Kristof,
There are 7 billion people on this planet. Thank you for making us aware of what goes on in the lives of many of them. Without you, how would we know. Keep up your very important mission. You are not alone.
Sincerely, Barbara H
If it sounds depressing, nobody wants to click on it. It's that simple.
1
Mr Kristof,
You are one of the bravest people in the world, and you shed light on some of the world's worst abuse. Were it not for you, the world would be a much worse place. In addition, you spend part of your professional life teaching others.
They can't all be popular, but they can all be important. Thank you, sir.
1
Mr. Kristof’s candor is commendable.
I would much rather see my Op-Ed real estate taken up by someone trying to hold fast to what they believe in, rather than some charicature of a “serious person,” whose sole mission in life is to play a perversely coy game of incredulous cynicism.
I try to read all your columns. I've followed your writing since you spoke at my college (Reed) back in the late 1980s.
When I do click away from a column, it's not because I don't care, but usually because the issue is so disturbing I just can't face it right then.
I'm glad you write about international issues; we are all one on this world.
1
Please keep at what you know to be important, Nick, whether or not the subject is surefire "click-bait."
Count me a fan. I read most, nearly all, of your columns. The only reason I miss one is lack of time on my part, though the sad and horrendous nature of some of the reporting you do is indeed hard to read. But, really important to read. Vital I'd say. We need journalists like you to bring light into these dark stories. Some of the world is so brutal and uncaring, and ignoring it will only empower those forces. You must take incredible risks to cover some of this stuff. I have always been in awe of reporters like you, who put themselves in danger to report the truth. You have got unbelievable guts! Thank you for the work you do and please keep it up! I also greatly admire your efforts to involve young and aspiring writers with the contest you do and how you travel with them, just incredible stuff. Thank you!
1
I must confess that I clicked off some of the harder articles, but your reporting is enormously valuable and needed as much now as ever.
I wonder if Donald Trump has ever read a Nicholas Kristof article about all the injustice and suffering humans on this planet experience. Somehow I doubt it.
3
I am a regular reader of the Tunes but since I subscribed through Facebook their horrid algorithm prevented the majority (I would say ALL of the articles you mentioned) from even showing up in my feed. Drat. Something is be resolved about this...
Actually, I missed few of these and am disappointed in myself for having done so. We lose part of our humanity when we ignore the needs of others, and in this case there are many such others outside our borders. Many of these people still look to the US as a beacon, knowing that the current dysfunction in the nation’s capital will end and that Americans do indeed think about more than themselves.
Keep the faith despite the odds, give voice to those who are ignored and overlooked, and in doing so help us expand our view of the world. Your Mom will certainly approve and your column is also one of the reasons why I subscribe to the Times.
6
Mr. Kristoff,
Your work is so important. Your columns help move the needle towards justice and for humanity. Keep up the good and important work you do.
One reason some of your very important articles are not better read is that they are so very depressing and I agree with you 100%. From now on I will stay on those articles longer and not click away even though I do not want to read the whole article. I will go and do something else for a while so the computer records more read time to give you and the NYTimes more viewer credit.
8
I usually read your columns, some times passing them over because I associate them with heartbreaking information, but usually I go back later to read your columns . I'm reminded that so many people are truly suffering and I compare them with my and most other Americans life with it's luxury problems, and I become very grateful for what I have in the larger picture of humankind. I also feel kind of guilty for having so much when there are others with nothing.
I think you could throw in some stories about people here as well as other places and situations, like your hike because people like stories.
6
Thank you Mr. Kristof. I'm also guilty of clicking on the latest Trump outrage before your columns, but you do admirable work.
4
Thank you again Nicholas Kristof. I read all your columns since I finished my novel on Vietnam. I post many of your columns at my second blog, InconvenientNewsWorldwide.wordress.com, and for a while, I put them into a category under opinion writers which I named Saint Nicholas Kristof. I think I eventually removed the word Saint, but I can't remember why, maybe to appear more professional.
But I remain a great fan and admirer. I love to tell people, please read this guy, he goes to places almost no one else wants to go to, and writes about bad things most people don't want to hear or know about. He really might be a saint.
David Lindsay is the author of "The Tay Son Rebellion, Historical Fiction of Eighteenth-century Vietnam," which almost nobody wants to read.
4
Dear Mr Kristin
Many of us are made aware by reading what you write about around the world. Keep up the scrutinizing . You are the best kind of journalist
Merry Christmas / Happy Chanukah etc !
4
Mr. Kristof, May I echo the sentiments of so many here, noting that you are a journalist of incredible skill and integrity. Please keep writing those "duds", as you call them.
I suspect that, this past year especially, many of your columns dealing with international themes haven't garnered the same readership because we Americans here have had to, for the first time in our lives, deal with the dismantling of democratic norms and institutions in our own nation.
We've seen hate crimes skyrocket under Trump. We've seen a record number of prosecutions of Trump's cronies by Mr. Mueller, already. Yet with the appointment of Barr as Attorney General, we should expect Mr. Mueller's investigation to be shut down as soon as that happens. And we see that nearly half of our neighbors still support a corrupt regime.
Many of us are seeing an America we never thought we'd see -- one that is much more bigoted and corrupt than we'd ever imagined. Many of us now see that our nation won't recover in a year or two or three. It will be decades to undo the damage Trump and his supporters have caused. Many of us are looking for other countries to emigrate to, for retirement. Or decent, stable democracies in which to raise our children. We are no longer the country that may peer out from the inside, secure in our own sense of fairness and decency. We are no longer that country. And this, I believe, is why many of us now don't focus on your international stories as much as we should.
7
I have subscribed to the NYT for several years, but I could never really declare why I was motivated to do so. This column has added some clarity to my subconscious thinking.
Please keep up the good work.
4
Mr. Kristof appears to be rightly troubled by the lack of focus and attention that is given to important international issues.
In fairness, Americans are facing an unprecedented attack on the core values of our democracy and our constitutional state. It is understandable that our electorate is more focused on the damage that Trump and the Republicans are doing to our own nation right before our eyes than on international matters with which we have little contact.
6
@JSD Well said. While I wish that current attacks on democracy & constitutionalism could explain our relative disinterest in important international issues, I suspect that those issues are sufficiently discomfiting -- & sufficiently abstract -- that even in saner times they would not attract the attention they deserve. Methinks that less uncomfortable distractions abound, so why should we deal with the discomforts of issues like child rape?
PS: And thank you, Mr. Kristoff, for helping me understand how you colyumists monitor reader responses. Thanks generally for your superb takes on the great issues of our day. We'll expect that 2019 will produce another year of the same.
Dear Mr. Kristof,
At the risk of piling on the praise, I want to tell you that as a foreign service officer who has served in and traveled to high threat and underdeveloped countries during my 15-year career, your columns are a godsend. You have shown a light on the people and places forgotten by the rest of the world during tumult and crisis. You use your voice and your position to give them a voice and in turn educate millions of readers who need to know that we must care about what happens beyond our borders.
Thank you for risking your life to enrich and enlighten the lives of others. You are a true public servant. Keep shining those lights, and do not measure success or readership by online metrics.
With gratitude and respect,
Shannon
4
And I thought Kristof was going to cop to his support for the destruction of Libya, the Iraq war, and sweatshop labor, all three of which drive sex slavery.
I know if I'd pushed any of those 3 things publicly, my mom really wouldn't be reading my musings with any degree of respect.
2
In part the failure of readers to click on certain articles may be due to the NYT's new (within the year?) format that doesn't feature the writer's name. Over the years I've read virtually all of your, Krugman's, and Friedman's Op-eds given shared values and interests. That said, the Times used to prominently show the columnist's name, whereas these days it's often just a small pic and the title of the column.
5
Mr. Kristof: I think your columns totally rule. Your mom must be proud indeed. Keep it up.
4
Nick. A lot of your readers are still in Paper World. Actually I want to thank you for trying to bend us away from our obsession with Trump. These issues you raise are not going away. It’s just hard to think about weeding the yard when there’s a splinter under your finger.
3
One thing that I appreciate that HONY does when reporting on the awfulness in this world is provide its readers with a specific path to help. That path is often as simple as a gofundme. Your op-ed’s are important. They shine a light on darkness. But don’t leave your readers with a sense of despair and helplessness. Give them a way to help and to hope.
2
Nicholas, LOL! I speak from my own experience to say that the heart-wrenching columns you mention were — heart-wrenching, hence avoided. That is not to say your messages did not get through, in fact they may have gotten through very well at both an intellectual and emotional level. One does not need to read a whole column to get the point, and wallowing in emotional pain may not be all that healthy either. There is that psychological phenomenon that makes it difficult to appreciate distance when hearing bad news. Rather than indifference, perhaps we turn away because we feel too much and can do too little. And let’s face it, Mr. Trump is so much more entertaining, even when YOU write about him and his rampant folly! Happy Holidays to you and your mom! And, thanks.
Dudless, you are.
Those "duds" are of far greater importance than most of the stories of who's up/down in latest DC intrigures.
Pretty darned good for boy from Yamhill.
I am grateful for the light you shine.
4
"Fortunately, The Times is still committed to such stories, as are some other journalists and news organization. Bravo..."
And that's why I am a subscriber.
3
I always read your columns and most often agree with you, Mr. Kristof. Sometimes, however, they are difficult to read and even more difficult to respond to intelligently, especially to give more than lip service.
The starvation of children in Yemen is one such issue. I've noticed that none of the photos show parents starving. Why is that? Why do they let the children starve first? Is this a social issue, or are the parents trying to stay well to take care of several children? I just don't know.
2
@Barbara I would guess the parents are also starve, but people care even less about them.
3
@CassandraM I saw some photos in which the parents looked alright. Of course, they were not stripped of their clothing so we could see their ribs.
1
We always read your columns. They are essential. They help keep us and the world better by reporting on human rights and abuses so that, where we can, we take action.
6
I have read all the articles listed, they all expanded my knowledge of the world. Thank you.
9
I read all your columns and as far as I know there are no duds.
It's not about whether I like or dislike the subject matter, it's about whether this is something I should know about (or at least be more aware of). Yes, the topics are often "a drag" but unless you're writing about hiking our beloved Cascades (does no one south of the Columbia hike or trek the Coast Range?). I don't expect your columns to leave me joyous when I'm done reading them.
Keep writing.
4
Don’t confuse popularity with substance. If you believe it’s necessary to shine a light on a little known — but important —issue, do it. We all have blind spots in our understanding of the world and sometimes it takes a Kristof column to illuminate and explain these issues.
6
I'm one of your loyal readers. Oftentimes I wish things weren't so awful but all I can do is make a donation when that is appropriate and vote. Don't feel bad about what you call "duds." You are a kind man, a wonderful writer and greatly respected. What more could a journalist hope for? You do great things. Keep on Writing!!
4
The most important issues are also among the most boring and depressing to read about. The issues still need to be addressed. You are doing God's Work, Mr. Kristof.
3
What has always stood out to me about your columns is that you seldom if ever accept the word of government leaders or mouthpieces. The world is surely plagued by violence, graft, corruption and needless suffering, yet the governments of most nations -- when they say anything -- usually paper over their troubles or blame outside forces.
You, however, provide eyewitness truth to power in every corner of the globe, and for that, I (and many others) am very grateful.
7
Although I am a regular reader of your columns, many times the gravity and size of the problems in your articles leaves me feeling frustrated and disappointed in my ability, or almost any one mortal for that matter, to actually do anything about them.
41
Rather than clicking on all the supportive comments, let me just add my own. Please don't ever think your reporting on some of the darkest areas of human life doesn't matter. What you focus on is incredibly important and greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.
12
Nick, instead of guilt tripping the reading public about not caring about your columns, how about admitting that the people they are really geared to are the ones who are in a position to do something about this.
Many of us are in a funk about the current state of affairs in this country, and with a President, Republican party and alt-right/Russian propaganda all working to gaslight us, we read the news searching for glimmers of hope, for stands of defiance and for people willing to speak the truth.
Why should I depress myself reading about injustices against women in other parts of the world (which is NOT news) when it is clear that our current gov't has NO intention of doing ANYTHING about it? A federal judge recently decided that the US gov't can't ban female circumcision in this country, and you honestly expect us to be able to do something about it in another one?
As for investing more in education, GREAT IDEA, but why didn't the Obama admistration do it? Do you think it was a lack of awareness on his administrations part?
Face it, journalists are only as influential as the people in power let them be and these days we know what that means.
Maybe Nick, you would be able to exert more influence if you were an active participant in politics. Bill Moyers worked for Lyndon Johnson and helped run the Peace Corp. Instead of complaining about politicians BECOME PART OF THE SYSTEM. It needs people like you, more than journalism does.
3
I'm with your Mom: I read everything you write, save some, circulate some. Because of your work, our church could pray for Abrar Ibrahim by name, as well as for all the children starving in Yemen. (Actually naming one of the children is powerful; they aren't statistics and you made all of them individuals through that column.) Going to school with refugees from war zones opened my eyes to a much wider world, and your columns do the same. I hope it makes me more truly human.
7
Dear Nick Kristof,
Let me assure you that I read every one of the columns you describe as duds. I have been a print subscriber for a very long time (yes, I am 75 years old!). I only ever read things online when I wish to forward them to others.
Keep up the good work!
1
Mr. Kristoff,
My favorite column this year was about you and your daughter completing the walk of the Pacific Coast Trail. As the father of two daughters, that hit home at the emotional level. Thank you for inspiring others to look beyond the troubles of our time by spending quality time with one's family going on walks or hikes in nature.
Happy Holidays to you, your family, and to All!
5
Generally speaking I enjoy your columns. When you post an ugly truth about starvation or war and show the picture, I force myself to look at the picture it paints as well as the accompanying picture because I need to remind myself that Life is more than my own little corner of stress and pizza.
I read exclusively online. Occasionally I'll visit my mother and she'll offer me a piece of the paper, but I tend to avoid the newsprint in favor of the pixels.
It does occur to me that some of your columns that are on the Opinions page should be in the Magazine section. Various pieces there provide the first-person perspective I see often in the Opinion pages, and I have no worries about the rigor of your reporting.
I don't like seeing unpleasantness, but for me the alternative is worse. Thank you for bringing to light the problems we have failed to solve. We cannot make a good attempt at solving them if we don't know about them.
Have a great new year, and I look forward to your 2019 columns.
6
I've learned that there's no better use of my time than investing a few minutes in reading your columns. I walk away a bit more aware, and inspired, and hopeful. You are a hero for the work you do.
9
Don't despair, Nick. I read and get a great deal out of all your columns, and books. I can say with confidence, if not supporting metrics, that I'm not alone. Please continue your brave and insightful work on international and domestic human rights issues. You have a loyal reader in Florida!
7
@Eric Gerard
And another loyal reader in British Columbia too!
Mr. Kristof,
Thank you for your courage, sensitivity, “eye” & heart to bring these stories to our awareness. You are among the few who do which makes them hidden gems when more of us need a more informed, compassionate & world-centric view. Your humanity is appreciated.
5
I make this number of mistakes every day. So brighten up, Nick! Actually everything you favored, I favor too. But the world have other ideas. Keep punching! The good will triumph--someday. I hope someday soon.
2
Quit belly-aching about your dud columns, Nick! Cross our hearts, we can't all pay attention to all your columns day in, day out, year in, year out. While you're busy thinking and writing about humanitarian crises everywhere, human rights, starvation and global violence against women, we are busy living life and dealing with the horrendous fall-out perpetrated by the Republicans and President Donald Trump on our country.We're busy weeping and crying out for the rule of law and Democracy to come back to America.
3
You forgot your very vocal support of FOSTA which while it did a good thing closing down Backpage, was then used to by Christian attack far more consensual LGBT websites for adults.
My suggestions to improve International coverage.
1- Shutter your sports section.
2- Shutter all entertainment news to include movies, plays and music.
3- Reassign half your Washington DC Bureau elsewhere.
4- Start charging Comcast for excessive use of NYT staff on MSNBC.
The holiday I am waiting for is when the new Congress sets up shop and we can have some Congressional oversight.
Happy Festivus.
Mr. Kristof,
I never fail to read you column, no matter the subject.
columns are not flops because certain people
don't have the intelligence or interest to
finish them.I like some of your columns and
dislike others.I would never call any of them
flops. the same goes for Friedman or Blow
or ,God knows, Brooks and Douthart. keep
writing about what interests you. you will
always have more hits than misses.
3
Stop worrying about the clicks and keep writing them anyway. Both you and the nyt exist for such stories.
3
Mr. Kristof, as far as I am concerned, one of your "dud" columns is worth a thousand "How Someone You're Not Cool Enough To Have Ever Heard Of Spends His Sundays" columns.
6
@Jim Kondek: have you noticed that
the really cool people never spend
their Sundays watching a football game or taking their kids to Citi field
or Yankee stadium? first they hit the
gym,then come home to mix God
only knows what in their juicers,meet
friends at their favorite "bistro" before
settling down to binge watch episodes
of programs which would put most of
us to sleep? their first names are
always Alecutia Anemona or Dinty
and one ends up grateful for NOT
knowing them.I will take a Kristoff
column any day and twice on Sunday.
4
I appreciated your article on the Slow Genocide, please do not stop writing about Global events.
3
I’m with your mother. No birdcage with your work......ever.
Mr. Kristof, your heart's in the right place, but your writing, ahem, can be on the dull side of earnest. (Talking about your Mom several times in this column with a straight, somewhat embarrassed tone is one example.) Spice it up a little, inject some biting sarcasm on occasion, and you'll be more of a hit. But keep at it.
1
You don't plant many duds, Nick. And you have the class and modesty to point out when (you think) you do. That's real journalism.
I read your article in the newsprint but clicked here to make you happy! Your column is always of interest.
I'm an online-only subscriber from Alaska. I value Mr. Kristof's writing highly and will now open all his stories even when I might not have time to read them. Just as I pay for the NYT instead of circumventing its paywall because I need its voice to be there, I want Mr. Kristof's columns to continue, so will vote with my finger/mouse.
2
Dear Mr Kristof,
You’re my favourite columnist. You have guts. You’re intelligent. You’re sensitive. I wrote many columns myself (not nearly as good as yours and not in English) over the years. I’ll never forget something Erica Jong once wrote in pre internet times: “Writing a column is like mailing a letter during a mail carrier strike”. Don’t give up.
4
Nick you are too hard on yourself. You are still my most favorite NYT columnist and I thank you very much for all the hidden gems that you talk about in your columns. Thank You! Have a Merry Xmas and a great New Year.
2
Nick,
I always read your columns precisely because you discuss issues that no one else does. Many of your colleagues write the same column over and over. Keep it up and say hi to your mom.
4
Knowing you are "there" gives me great comfort.
3
Mr. Kristof, you have one of those "someone has to do it" jobs that never gets the credit it deserves. I confess that I have no idea what to do about rapes in New Guinea except shake my head. But we can do something about starving children in all parts of the world and you've done courageous work to assist in that.
Next time you risk your neck in some god-awful place take David Brooks or Maureen Dowd with you and burst the bubbles they live in.
4
Perhaps your next column should be on the ethics of knowing what your readers are reading. Did your readers give their permission to be tracked? Were they offered the choice to opt out of tracking? How much information does The Times collect on its readers? Do readers know—and should they trust—what The Times is doing with that information?
3
I read your articles in a newspaper. You can’t hear the click or rustle of the paper. Hmm, please keep writing them and stop thinking about clicks.
geez, americans not being interested in things outside the usa--unless they're involved--whoda thunk that!
2
I enjoy all your columns. I hate that you’ve labeled these columns duds, because they are important. Please keep educating us.
Kristof fans - as you leave your computer always click on a Kristof column and leave it up. Dishonest? Perhaps, but we can live with it.
2
Listen. I read your columns; you would make a great neighbor, parent, uncle or dad. But you are not a journalist. Breslin, Royko, Baker, Baldwin, Arendt — these were journalists. You Sir are a commentator, a storyteller, and a pretty good one. Generally your politics are too milquetoast for the situations at hand, but it is in character and honest. That alone separates you from most of your brethren here at the university of the unhinged. The “duds”? Think of it this way: better to be appreciated by a small audience of discerning readers than widely read by loons and lefties who can’t tell fact from opinion, can’t tell humor from harrassment and prefer thought police to think pieces.
1
How do I feel about you using your real estate to laud yourself, while faulting readers for not buying your most righteous causes? Here's to the Church of Kristof!
Thanks for your "duds". I'm a busy person and can't always sit down to read the Times…..but I read a number of the "dud" articles you listed. They were effective and interesting.
There's an old saying that goes:
“I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.”
Keep up the good work!
Nicholas: sigh, I bailed on your duds article after the first dud. Nonetheless, you do a lot of important work most of the time.
And that's the problem Kristof. The number of people reading a column doesn't matter at all. What matters is the quality of research and writing that goes into it. And, having read several of your rantings, particularly on guns and what you term "gun control", I can say firsthand the quality of research and writing in your "columns" is notably lacking. Maybe you should start there, rather than writing what your minders tell you to.
hmmmm.....I must be related to your mom because I read all of those columns. Keep doing what matters most to you. Thank you.
1
I was very moved by your pieces on Kevin Cooper and others. I worked for Jerry Brown for a year and even though he had many interesting problems I really don't understand why he would block DNA testing in Cooper's case. At a certain point there are subjects that I can't stomach anymore such as stories about Moose being sucked dry by ticks, disappearing creatures and other environmental disasters. It's too painful. On the other hand, I wake up every morning and look at the NYT hopefully to see if Trump has died yet. It's silly of me but I have fantasized that he and Pence would be lost in a plane crash. The Rohingya have fallen into the category that is too-painful reading. As the world is falling apart I am ducking for cover. Unless, of course, there is actually something I could do about it. I do realize that Trump is simply a red herring that keeps us distracted while the really bad stuff goes on behind the scenes. If only journalism would spend more time investigating that stuff instead of the Punch and Judy show it keeps re-running.
1
Nicholas, you should be, and I think you must be, proud of your "duds". Your duds merit a Pulitzer.
1
To be honest, I didn’t read any Kristof columns this year (or last year, or the year before...). There’s no need to rad anything he’s written lately, his columns are all re-runs, on a handful of themes. To be fair, this staleness is not unique to Kristof. Friedman hadn’t written anything original in a decade. Neither has Dowd or Brooks. The NYT OpEd page is in serious need of a make-over.
3
Jeez, Kristof. The only thing more boring than the duds is a column about the duds.
1
Please stop doing this. It comes across as you beating yourself up for no good reason, and you seem like much too much of a good, useful person for that.
You may want to consider your writing style’s effect on your low readership. It has degenerated, in my opinion, to a form of self-righteous scolding. And no one enjoys being scolded.
2
I might read your work a few times a year (online; digital subscriber only, more physical paper not needed). Why so infrequently? Because you write the same thing. Over. And over. And over. Just substitute one geographic name for another. Your columns are the child who cried wolf on a global scale. I keep up with TNYT's news plus that in other publications and media. I've lived in non-Western countries. I'm aware that the world continues to deteriorate. I try to contribute financially to NGOs who try to better something. I don't need your sanctimony.
TNYT isn't going to let you go just because of a lack of clicks on a few columns. You know that.
Fine, I've said it. The almost 200 commentators (as of this writing) can send their slings and arrows my way.
Well look at it this way. At least your duds made the paper!
These are the columns I liked the most. Please keep writing the “duds” for all of our sake.
This is utterly ridiculous. Here’s a thought: do an analysis of the actual reading habits of subscribers. Since all the print subscribers have digital access, a good chunk of your clicks are coming from people who can put down the iPad and pick up the print edition when they see something that makes them go Hmmm. What Dorito-eater is discounting this behavior?
I have read the columns by Nicholas Kristof for years and have told friends that Kristof may be the most morally conscientious journalist writing for a major American newspaper.
Of course, that may be like telling some guy that the woman you’re trying to persuade him to invite to lunch has a wonderful personality.
We should spread the rumor that Donald Trump hates Nicholas Kristof more than any columnist in America.
@sdw
I hope my comment, which was an attempt at humor, is not misinterpreted. Besides his good heart, Nicholas Kristof is one of the most talented writers at The New York Times, and the newspaper is lucky to have him.
I never, ever skip any of your columns unless I somehow miss one by mistake. Instead, I often share them with friends and family because you are hands-down my favorite columnist. You provide a perperspective into situations I could otherwise never understand. Thank you.
Few care about the plight of countries many have never even heard of when we have illegals from around the world swarming into our country, a first rate nation like the U.S. without universal health care, and republicans tripping over themselves to give tax breaks to people and corporations who don't need them.
1
Recently I responded to a reader who challenged your “factual” proof of USA’s complicity in the atrocities in Yemen. It disturbs me that someone made judgements without knowledge of the larger geographical picture of nations involved in this conflict.
I agree that TRUTH must be spoken to POWER. This is not for the weak-hearted. Courageous journalists such as yourself with your “feet on the ground” make this believable to those of us reading comfortably at home. (I miss your columns when you are taking time off to write books)! HALF THE SKY made your time away worth it. You and Cheryl documented the information with websites through which your readership could become involved to help make changes (without leaving home). This is invaluable! Thank you, Nick, for your prophetic undertakings and for your laser-vision focus on JUSTICE for the forgotten ones. Thank you for keeping us informed about how WE can also improve these situations right from here. For you, (on location):
DUD may often mean “Done Under Duress”. THANK YOU!
All of those “duds” are such
Important topics! Keep writing them!
So many causes, so little time.
Sigh ...
1
Read them all. Happy Holidays, Nick.
Please, keep giving us Trump-free columns; they may get fewer comments, but I am sure they are read. They mean something and they are durable; Trump-based columns are like paper towels*: use them once and discard them.
[* I wrote "paper towels" because it is more polite]
I read every one of your columns. I might not click, because I usually read them in my real, old-fashioned paper. I don't think any of your columns are duds. I always learn something from them.
As to why some Kristoff columns are significantly less read, one needs to consider what otherwise was in the Times on those days. If it was a big news day, often, it might be supposed, there is less reading of the opinion page.
As for less interest in Kristoff on global news, it stands to reason that his thoughts may be less authoritative on these matters.
Still the best individual opinion in the Times.
1
Don't feel bad about clicks, if you report on a subject I'm already well versed in I usually don't read the entire column. Sometimes I already have the info.
Kristoff - When you became the NYT’s latest Tom Wicker, columnist hired as Right-Wing Rep, then went Progressive - after realizing the evils of both American Social and Economic “conservatism”, you lost your initial base.
But those who realize the rad Right is wrong have welcomed your acknowledgement of the truth - that we have elected a mad president and Senate where “moderate” now means Reaganomics and Back Before Brown v BoE.
We hang on your every word, because you are still willing to push back on the faults of Progressives as well.
Don’t worry, the next time prisoners riot for the right to live safely and decently while in the state’s custody, you will be the one they call on for aid in negotiations against a mad governor.
Very occasionally I'll have a minor problem with a Nick piece, as maybe his ideology, which I generally share, is going a little too far and causing him to miss something. But I don't think he's capable of "duds." What's really going on (besides the regrettable relative disinterest in certain international topics) is the overuse of "metrics," which have their purpose but are a questionable way to interpret "success." Unfortunately, they are over-influential. Yet, it is generally accepted that they're the know-all-&-be-all way to determine things. In another context, I again heard one of the most extreme versions of this: "If you don't measure it, it doesn't exist!" Not enough are saying "that's a big philosophical mistake, and one with potential consequences."
It is worth some speculation why some readers don't read his columns, or don't on certain topics. The reasons may not be obvious. Sometimes I have to be in the right mood. But a Kristof column without value? Never!
Still, humility is good and other columnists would benefit by practicing it at least once a year.
Maybe his mother who reads all his columns knows something we don't. Maybe that bird reading the Kristof-imprinted bedding in his cage is learning something we're not!
I just read the "#MeToo Goes Global" column.
We all make judgements about what to read and what not to. I think the header was probably the reason I didn't read this, but that was a mistake, for the column was quite powerful and I am sorry I missed it the first time.
I hope in the coming days you will visit the beautiful Valley of Kashmir, under Indian occupation. Perhaps you will tell the world about the atrocities, the mass murders, the tortures and the rapes of Kashmiri women by the Indian forces. And the firing of pellets on the eyes of Kashmiri school children. The valley of Kashmir will also enchant you with its pristine lakes, glaciers, Mogul gardens, and the mountain peaks which constantly change colors. And I assure you, your column about Kashmir will not be a dud !
Excuse me, Mr. Kristof, but your dud column is itself a dud (I mean that in all good humor and presumed friendship).
You might have retitled it, "I did good, but the world ignored me." This is not exactly a mea culpa, is it?
Hey, I get ignored a billion times a day and I don't get a column in the Times to express my distress, do I? People don't even need two seconds to click away from what I say on the comments section, they don't even pass over it. (One reason is that, still, it takes so very long for a comment to be put online...many hours in some cases, missing prime readership time. Can't the Times do any better on that?)
Shall I list the wonderful things I have said over the last ten years that got three or four recommend clicks? No. But I did predict in advance of the 2018 mid-terms that the Dems would take the House and, yes, that the Republicans would net two seats in the Senate. Before the 2016 election, I wrote that the presidential vote was going to be much closer than anyone else had predicted (but for the Times leading me in the wrong direction, I likely would have predicted a Trump victory, having traveled to Pennsylvania the day before the voting and sensing that the state of my birth would go Trump; it did.)
So, cheer up. Being ignored is a very common, ordinary human condition. If you want, as a columnist, to have more influence, you have to stay on a subject for awhile, even to the point of berating it. A column does not launch a thousand ships.
2
You are far too modest, Nicholas, despite the “audience numbers” you refer to in your article are, I assume, correct.
But count me in as one of your truly faithful readers; the only reason I ever miss one of your columns is because I occasionally don’t have access to my computer.,
Your obviously passionate devotion to matters of human rights is truly a source of profound importance, however little attention readers may occasionally pay to what you write.
As for me, I’ve wondered for years why the Nobel committee hasn’t yet placed you on their list of potential Peace candidates.
Continue to do what you do, Nicholas. Trust me, your voice **is** being heard.
"My Biggest Duds" -- classic title where Mr. Kristof you take blame which most surely is not yours. Those 'most read' metrics are sadly the symptom of a bigger problem: as the most powerful, and richest country in the history of the world we are focused on ourselves and generally uninterested in the 95% of the world that lives somewhere other than the US. If we look at charitable donations, it's the same damning picture: 95% of what Americans gives stays within our border, though the world's poorest live elsewhere. I find your writing extraordinarily thought-provoking and deeply moving. You are that rarest of treasures -- the single powerful candle lighting the darkness.
31
As a member of a local group that focuses on international issues, I am well aware of the difficulty in getting people excited about them. I think there are many many caring people who find the issues so remote and depressing because it makes us feel helpless to affect change. I especially like your columns that give us a specific actions or two that might help. Last year you wrote about the work of the Catholic Relief Workers in a drought area in Africa, and I pulled out my check book immediately. I can't do that every day, but I do when I can. When you write about people and organizations to write to, I do that too. Keep up the great work. Women & people who live in such awful poverty need to be know to us, and you do it best.
1
I read the NYT in print and also read physical books. I avoid click-bait online news, and greatly appreciate in-depth, carefully researched journalism. Thank you for your coverage of important international stories.
Regarding "business model" for quality journalism - some publications that I highly value are supported in part by non-profit foundations. They can afford to cover important stories without prioritizing commercial value. Unfortunately, the foundation path generally reflects advocacy for a specific agenda.
10
I wrote my state legislators about changing the child marriage laws in my state because of your column on it. I got a thoroughly awful answer that they had to be approved by judges so it was hunky dory.
''Human rights and humanitarian topics often do particularly poorly by digital metrics...'' - regardless, who among us will be the voice of millions that go maligned or be left behind ? I would submit it is you (and others), that have a platform and use for good, let alone good journalism.
There SHOULDN'T be a business model for that. You cannot advertise on the backs of the people you report about.
Our world is shrinking, that whatever happens over there is directly affecting what is happening over here. We need voices that are going to pull back the veneer of truth and lay out what we need to see. (even if we do not want to)
You are one of me favorite columnists, BECAUSE of that fact, and although some topics are a little hard to digest, we are all better for it. It makes us all more human.
Thank you & happy holidays >
2
Looking at the pieces you call "duds" because they were not read by many people, it looks like they were about important issues affecting most people in the world. If that is so, we need to ask ourselves what else was being "consumed" by readers of the NYTimes. Were they more pressing issues? Were they more pertinent to more people?
If the answer to both of those questions is "No" we need to think more deeply about what it means.
At the very least may I recommend that the NYTimes cut down the Opinion pages down. There is no need for so many columnists and so many op-eds. The former increasingly are superannuated reporters who have become hacks churning out ideological polemics week after week. They never change their views when the facts change, they just cherrypick the facts that suit their case and ignore things which disagree.
The Op-eds are almost always seem to be written by someone with an agenda, that too an agenda which is not aimed at helping the average reader, rather it is to influence them to think and act in a certain way and support a certain goal. This is simply propaganda masquerading as journalism and it must end.
Both in TV and print media there is an expansion of "Opinion" pieces and people are becoming less informed and "polarized" than they ever were. Those are the facts. So how about acting based on the facts and cutting down on the polarization, misleading and gaslighting by cutting down on these columns and op-eds?
1
I read them all, when they were printed! We do ‘hear’ you, are more aware because of your reporting. Thank you!
Thanks for this. I'm getting really sick of the TV networks that feel obliged to close their newscasts with "good news," which is mostly nothing but meaningless fluff.
1
The fact is that populism, or nationalism, is the current mood of the U..S. and Europe, and your "dud" columns are the ones that speak to globalism. The vast majority of readers care most deeply about things that impact them. Sadly we have people in this country who while they may not suffer as badly as many in Africa, still live lives most NYT readers would consider poverty-stricken. Certainly many of those immigrants now finding themselves shut out of the U.S. face problems as great as any in South East Asia. The more you deal with the inequities of life in the U.S., and to some extent our neighbors to the South, the more interest you will see for your columns.
Well, those columns may have been deemed "duds" but your international columns are the ones to which I most gravitate. So - please keep writing them.
Gosh, I hope you're joking about knowing how long a reader was on your article on-line!
Keep up the good fight.
Oh, I get it, you're being ironic. The only reason these articles are 'duds' is because you thought they were great. You didn't get the response you wanted, hence the seeming flopness of them. Please, by all means, spend 2019 tipping at windmills. It's what we love about your 'reach exceeding your grasp'.
Thank you, Mr. Kristof, for proving that “duds” can truly be “dudes” and losers can ultimately win. These are important stories, the heck with their Q-scores. I’m grateful the NYTimes recognizes that.
You and the Times deserve credit for covering international stories. They are essential to our understanding of each other and the world.
The Times does a commendable job of covering health care issues -- only Vox has similar expert coverage and the Times has more breadth and a longer history of articles. I would bet some of these articles get few "clicks." That makes them neither uninformative nor unimportant.
To your credit and your bosses, the NYT retains, even nurtures, its responsibility for broad civic engagement and historical journalism. Sometimes readers will pass over thoughtful, even important, contributions. That does not mean these articles should not be incorporated.
All the best for 2019!
Your mother is not alone! Everyone in our household avidly follows your reporting from Yemen, Myanmar, and all over the globe. (Unfortunately for statistical evidence, my wife still reads the daily news in PRINT.) We are deeply in your debt for calling attention to the consequences of our national policies and our national habits of oblivion. PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE.
Everyone shoots a clunker once in a while. Don't sweat it and don't feel sorry for yourself. Go watch "Its a Wonderful Life" again with Sheryl, toast in the New Year, think about the good you have done, and resolve to do better next year.
I'm waiting for your next state of the world column. Behind the headlines, things are getting better. Its not about the ratings.
I'm one of the readers who do not read those columns, although I do read a lot of articles in the Times. Your columns are usually about something bad happening in parts of the world where bad things happening is the normal state of affairs. I read the headlines and I already know what's in it without reading it, someone could just copy-paste an article about a similar human crisis from 20 years ago. I don't feel the need to read it because the headline alone already gives me all the relevant information.
It's the same type of news as "clashes in Gaza kill a dozen protesters", it has been the same for decades and it will not change. That's why readers automatically fade out this kind of article mentally.
1
Hey, I'll read any of your columns - and I turn to you especially for the international ones. Keep on keepin' on. It matters!
Like many I too find some articles too disturbing to read. That does not mean it doesn't impact on me. They have led me to contribute to Doctors without Borders and Amnesty International. I am a Canadian and was first introduced to the New York Times by some of your articles that ended up on my Facebook and led me to subscribe to NYT.
Americans have a reputation for being inward looking... and reading about Trump has become a narcotic for many...even outside your borders. That is how he shrewdly manipulated the media to fixate on himself during the campaign.
21
Don´t worry, Nicholas. Your hard copy, print reading audience, like me, read your ´duds´ with great interest.
20
Certainly not duds, and I read all of the columns you mentioned, and although I don't usually write comments, they all affected me, particularly what you call dud #1 and here in Israel where there has been recent activist reaction to 25 murders of women this year, I have often thought of our "privileged" status here in contrast to the plight of women worldwide. I'm sure I'm not the only one who pays attention and please, keep on calling attention to those stories.
14
Dear Mr. Kristof, it saddens me to see your note. But I am thrilled that you live for your message to only be much more widely read, and acted upon. You have to know, that at this point in time, there are certain voices that stand apart, and are so very, very unique and necessary and special, that they become an important part of the fabric of history. You are that person. You must never stop (sorry). The world has only you some days. Think of that. Just--think--of--that. And, think of all the vicious, inaccurate, self-serving voices that live. You are one among them all, a beacon of light, of hope to the entire world.
1
Mr. Kristof, your Number 1 dud was my number 1 hit. Your articles on the injustices inflicted on women led my writing group to compile a document that was shared with, and read by, my congregation during a service.
That article ignited a deep burn of empathy, horror, anger, and sorrow that has kept us researching and reading more articles about the complacency we seem to have about the terror and helplessness many girls and women have to live with, in the US and abroad. Thank you!
1
Please keep reporting. We are so in need of your voice.
1
Reviewing your mistakes is a great discipline. But in this case it's more complicated, since you're not saying you failed, just that you failed to reach your readership in numbers.
But how is that a failure?
Being wrongly imprisoned is terrible, but being forgotten is worse. Rape victims, villagers whose tax dollars prop up dictators instead of going to education -- reportage is our collective audit, an accounting for behavior that we would just as soon forget.
You're relentless. In a good way. You won't let us forget about the people living in places whose torturers have the imprimatur of power as they do unconscionable acts.
We residents of Salem know something about remembering our mistakes. We've memorialized the ones we made in 1692 so we can continue to remember that even judges will face judgment for their acts.
1
I thought the articles on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia & Yemen were outstanding. I greatly appreciate Mr. Kristof's insight and take on what he sees on these missions. Many thanks for your integrity.
Consider that I am bored with NYT position on the POTUS--it is too predictable and egregious--a waste of reading time.
Like so many others, I value your articles and often pass them on to Facebook and Twitter. The problems of the world can be overwhelming to read but your type of investigative journalism is needed even if the “clicks” aren’t there. I have to believe they are read far more than the stats show. Your articles should be required reading by our legislative bodies and college students. You, my friend, are a gift to free journalism.
2
Thanks so much, Nick. I invariably admire and enjoy your work, but confess that I don't always get to read everything available. You are a huge credit to an endangered profession, and your "Dud" column reminded me of how much we depend on courageous journalists like you to learn more about what's happening around the world, not just Trump's world. Keep up the great work, "duds" and all, and please give my best regards to your saintly Mother....
1
Nicholas Kristof--Please keep up your intrepid reporting about the HUMAN costs of murderous and corrupt politics wherever the damage is done. I understand that you feel that your words fall on deaf ears or averted eyes; I feel the same helplessness in view of the callous indifference to human suffering inside our own borders or beyond. However, your reporting which is also about human resilience in the face of adversity, while not of "commercial" value as perceived by corporate news organization, is an essential element of the NYT editorial pages. In these times of partisan, if not blindered opinionating (posing as factual thinking), YOUR VOICE IS ESSENTIAL!
Beate, NYC
1
The mass media, including the NYT, is obsessed with sales, viewers, clicks, etc and the corresponding revenue and profits for corporate owners. Trump news is generally about useless nonsense; he seldom actually does anything important. But Trump is entertainment and entertainment sells. Unfortunately, way too few Americans are interested in real news or facts. They are too busy, and thinking about these things makes their head hurt.
Your columns are a refreshing change. The real news may be somewhere in the NYT digital edition, which I read, but since the decision to dumb down the digital edition (to get more clicks I guess) the real news is harder to find. (The plots of TV shows on the front page as news?)
Your columns , and a few others are not only insightful and thought -provoking , even when I don't agree, they also provide factual information not easily found elsewhere. Keep it up and wear your flops as a badge of honor.
1
Have you considered that the problem here may be the Times' business model and the way you interpret the readership data you collect? Just because someone doesn't read a whole story, or even click on it to open it, doesn't mean that he hasn't learned something important from it, or that he doesn't value its being there.
It's true that I don't read every story you or anyone else on the Times' staff writes. I often find that I've learned everything I really need to know from the title or the opening paragraph.
That isn't because I'm heartless, but because my time, like everyone's, is limited, and I have to pick and choose what I read in-depth. I assume that people who are in a position to make use of the detailed reporting you so eloquently provide are the ones who read on. My failure to do so should hardly be taken as an indication that I don't want the Times to cover those things. I *do*--that's why I subscribe. I just don't have the time to read every word of all those articles myself.
I'd be dismayed, though, if I couldn't see from a glance at the paper what topics are of concern not just in the U.S. but in the world today. *That* would cause me to cancel my subscription. I assume I'm not alone in this, so how does it make sense to equate "time spent actually reading" with "willingness to pay to see this story reported"?
1
I read your column in hard copy, sitting at the kitchen table. The problem is that we are mostly addicted to sensational Trumpian outrages. Please continue your documentation of worldwide abuses of human rights and know that you are increasing the number of educated and concerned US citizens.
In peace,
Nina Raskin
Evanston, Illinois
1
Cheer up. It's after reading your columns that i decided to split my gift to my 4 grand children : A contribution under their name to a charity. I added a note about the risk of hedonistic habituation. The smile i could see on their face was worth it.
Thank you
I read all your stories, sometimes laughing, but oh so often silently crying. Yemen...visited in 1976... keep on reporting on the international stories, please. I read you in the print version of "The Trib" [so regret the name change] that lands in the mailbox every day in France. Turning to the op-ed page is my go to part of the newspaper. Keep it up and add a whole lot of page turns and clicks on your stories in your counting. Write some more about Oregon, my home state. Lili Kiki
I realize clicks are quantifiable and therefore useful as a metric about your readership. But they tell you nothing about the impact you have on your readers. Some of your columns may have had few online readers, but what if one reader decided to become passionate about global education and direct their time and energy to that cause. You'd never know unless that person tells you and I'm sure the Times isn't keeping those statistics. But that's why you write -- to inspire passion and change. So keep writing those duds(all of which I've read) about important things you care about and believe in and know that it's making an impact on someone somewhere.
Sir, it’s not the size of the tool, it’s what you DO with it. You are absolutely my very favorite writer at The NYTs. A beautiful Brain and a huge, compassionate Heart. Very simply, the Soul of the place. You inspire us, and make us better people. What’s more important than that ? Happy Holidays to you and yours.
1
I read all of your columns in the print edition. Don't change your approach. Coverage of international issues is lacking by most U.S. news outlets. Their news coverage is U.S. centric and ignores events in Africa, Asia, and South America. My primary sources of news are the NY Times, The Economist, and NPR. All provide a worldwide view of the news and issues the I am looking for.
Nick: Never underestimate the power of your words. I understand your frustration about readership, but that's not why you're writing, right? You write because you believe in your subjects and you are passionate about them. You care. And you risk caring.
Please continue. Please write not for the readership (I know readership = money), but on behalf of those who have no voice otherwise.
I don’t ageee with all your opinions, and read you’re columns from that perspective. However, I am glad to find your columns. I believe we all need to see opposing viewpoints on many issues. Keep the columns coming - it is not only your Mom who reads them.
''Human rights and humanitarian topics often do particularly poorly by digital metrics...'' - regardless, who among us will be the voice of millions that go maligned or be left behind ? I would submit it is you (and others), that have a platform and use for good, let alone good journalism.
There SHOULDN'T be a business model for that. You cannot advertise on the backs of the people you report about.
Our world is shrinking, that whatever happens over there is directly affecting what is happening over here. We need voices that are going to pull back the veneer of truth and lay out what we need to see. (even if we do not want to)
You are one of me favorite columnists, BECAUSE of that fact, and although some topics are a little hard to digest, we are all better for it. It makes us all more human.
Thank you & happy holidays !
1
The very first thing I paid for on the Internet was my NYT online subscription. And you, sir, were the main reason I chose to ante up.
Thank you (and happy holidays)!
You shine a light in dark corners that many would simply prefer to ignore. It isn't always easy or comfortable to read, but it is the essence of journalism. I'm sure that your mom is proud of you. You are one of the reasons that I pay for the privilege of online access to the Times.
Please don't stop writing those provocative editorials!
I count on them to stir my conscience.
You are one of the main reasons I subscribe to the NY Times.....
Thank you.
Thank you, Nick Kristof, for the important work you do.
Happy Holidays!
The problem with Mr. Kristoff's columns is a) the writing comes in one flavor, standardized dull newspaper copy, and b) is a simply a variation of muted social worker concern for a wide spectrum of injustices, some more eye catching than others. More interesting, the annual columns about hikes on this or that trail with his daughter, reporting insect bites and panoramic views. Nice work if you can get it.
1
Your "duds" are exactly the kind of stories I like to read, and to write (I now understand why they are so difficult to publish - when they are not commissioned by some organization, I just publish them on my website).
So thank you very much for being one of those journalists who cares, not just about metrics, but who cares about other humans in need.
Go with your Mom choices, as being the most popular read does not tell you their moral importance. All your poorly read articles, which like your Mom I read and found profoundly disturbing and deeply moving, they give direction to my activism.
Bravo for allowing your poorly read articles to continue.
Please keep writing these. They are incredibly important.
Your duds are chief nourisher in true journalism and antidote against Trump soap opera. I seldom write a comment because I am busy keeping up with Trump's new mess, which I believe will decompose my brain and soul. But I am addicted to.
This is not a good way to express, but those duds remind me there are a lot more worse things and people in the world than Trump White House.
The value placed on clicks is undermining opinion writing all over America. It is the reason why every column has to be about Trump. When the writer's judgement on what we need to know is completely undermined by the demand for clicks, we are the worse for it.
A book is not good because it is on the bestseller list. A person is not better because he or she has the most money.
Does everything in America have to be popularity contest? Quality is not determined by popularity. The president thinks that nothing is important but winning, and he does not care how he does it. Surely Kristof knows better than this. Maybe this should be a column about the failures of us, his readers and fellow Americans.
Often the most important events are ones no one paid attention to at the time. Please, Kristof, do not decide what to write about based on how many clicks it is going to get. Base your decisions on what you think we need to know. That, my friend, is you job!
Your column is one of the reasons I subscribe to the NY Times. Thank you!
I join your mom as a fan. I read all of these columns.
Keep it up, Mr. Kristof. More columns on international stuff that matters. Clicks aren't everything, are they?
Think of all the clicks those ads touting things like "one simple trick to eliminate head lice" get. Then revel in your ability to rise above the common to soar in the land of the rarely-read but truly meaningful.
Happy holidays.
''Human rights and humanitarian topics often do particularly poorly by digital metrics...'' - regardless, who among us will be the voice of millions that go maligned or be left behind ? I would submit it is you (and others), that have a platform and use for good, let alone good journalism.
There SHOULDN'T be a business model for that. You cannot advertise on the backs of the people you report about.
Our world is shrinking, that whatever happens over there is directly affecting what is happening over here. We need voices that are going to pull back the veneer of truth and lay out what we need to see. (even if we do not want to)
You are one of me favorite columnists, BECAUSE of that fact, and although some topics are a little hard to digest, we are all better for it. It makes us all more human.
Thank you & happy holidays...
''Human rights and humanitarian topics often do particularly poorly by digital metrics...'' - regardless, who among us will be the voice of millions that go maligned or be left behind ? I would submit it is you (and others), that have a platform and use for good, let alone good journalism.
There SHOULDN'T be a business model for that. You cannot advertise on the backs of the people you report about.
Our world is shrinking, that whatever happens over there is directly affecting what is happening over here. We need voices that are going to pull back the veneer of truth and lay out what we need to see. (even if we do not want to)
You are one of me favorite columnists, BECAUSE of that fact, and although some topics are a little hard to digest, we are all better for it. It makes us all more human.
Thank you & happy holidays !
The stories you tell us are important and it is important we don't get to ignore the world and problems and push things into non-existence. Like Dickens you are shining a light where we need to look. Thank you and don't every give up.
5
Thanks Nick. I would offer - as a former U.S. diplomat who served in Myanmar - that it's not indifference but impotence that undermines your click-rate. Particularly with an Administration that is not interested in standing up for human rights, it's hard to feel like we can make a positive difference, and frankly we have enough pain/trauma to deal with that one more story is depressing.
You often try to offer a call to action (e.g. targeted sanctions in the "slow motion genocide piece") but to get there the reader has to wade through unspeakable tragedy. One suggestion might be a reframe: not to gloss over trauma, but to offer a way to take concrete action: who are the best orgs on the ground right now doing work? Who can we support, philanthropically or as volunteers? What can we be doing, right now with our children, to prevent this from happening in the future? What is the connection between what's happening in Rakhine and what's happening here at home? (Hint: "othering" as a concept knows many forms... what books get at this well? How do we educate our children to bridge across difference?)
Thanks for the good work.
3
Citizenstout thank you for your insightful comments which mirrors much of what I feel.
I'm with your mom. Not just because I'm a parent. These are incredibly important stories and of course are addressing some of the international causes of our domestic effects. The pendulum will swing back. It must. Thanks to you and the Times for leaning on that pendulum.
1
As a hard-copy reader of the Times for more than two decades, I look forward to your columns every time they appear--and I read and was moved by each of the ones you cited. I suspect that because your topics invite introspection and introduce conflicts or medical issues that others do not cover, they are more often read over a cup of coffee and after the kids are off to school.
Please keep covering the world as you do, because you have, in fact, many devoted readers. As I'm sure you know, the internet is a great place to see the latest headlines and pictures, but not designed for deep thought and real engagement.
I often share your columns with my live-in grandchildren to give them a perspective they would never otherwise have, so are influencing people well beyond the Times subscriber list.
Keep up the excellent, and vital, work.
3
Mr. Kristof's intrepid reporting and deeply insightful writing is one of the things that makes the NYT part of my day, every day. I virtually always learn something worthwhile from his pieces and perhaps I need to be better at sharing them with others to get his numbers up! Unfortunately, the lack of interest in issues and people beyond our borders is also true with charitable giving, where just 5% of donations go to organizations and people beyond our shores -- extraordinary and depressing given our profound wealth and the incredbile poverty that exists outside the 'city on the hill'. Mr. Kristof is the rarest of treasures -- the too often single candle lighting the darkness.
4
As others have commented, part of the problem is that with thousands or tens of thousands of awful things happening in the world, how many can I, as an individual, take up much less positively affect in a significant way? Secondly how much pain and annoyance can I tolerate on any one day? The paint is off the remote's mute button from so much use. I've had to take up language study as opposed to watching news stories that spend so much time on American politics. For all of that, your reports, clicked or unclicked are worthwhile and I will continue to read them when I can tolerate another jolt of pain.
5
Mr.Kristof, I always look for your columns to read. I subscribe to the Times because it is the only news medium where I can learn about what is happening across the world. Keep up the good fight. you are a true journalist and a hero for so many of us.
4
I read very few of your columns because they are unrelentingly depressing but that doesn't mean I'm not glad you are doing the reporting. Keep up the good work and be thankful your mom is around to support your efforts.
4
Thank you for your intrepid coverage of the world's least-covered crises. I've learned so much from you over the years and appreciate your guidance on where to focus our attention, and our donations. Don't despair, you're doing good in the world.
2
Dear Mr. Kristof. I love your work. It is important work and you are among my favorite opinion writers. But I confess I do not read every column. So why? In my personal case (not trying to speak for anyone else) some of them are just too disturbing. You point out important issues, but I am a person of limited funds and aging body; short of writing letters, I usually feel like there is nothing I can do about it, so I turn away. But I would hate to see those columns disappear. After all, if not you, then who?
So keep those flops coming. We need them even if its only your mother and a few thousand others.
8
People, and in this case the people of America, relate to what they know, what they can contextualize. To relate one must be able to understand a concept, a place or time or a situation that one has, if not knowledge about, at least some familiarity.
An example is the statement that in parts of New Guinea some 62% of men admitted to having raped a woman at some time in their lives. How does a reader react to percentages in far off places? In context it could read "that imagine if 6 out of 10 men that you know are rapists". Instant relatable metric.
Another is a statistic that states (this is hypothetical) that 100,000 Yemenis have perished due to starvation. Yeah, so? Where is the impact? An alternative could be "The death of 100,000 Yemenis due to starvation is the equivalent of the entire cities of Lansing, Michigan, Odessa, Texas or West Palm Beach, Florida had died due to such a horrid and avoidable death".
Lastly your comments, as mine above, relate to far off places. Americans have, rightly or wrongly, like any other population, their own concept of their homeland. We are limited in how much change we can effect, but it is always more substantial and cost worthy in our own backyard. That is where we live and where we can far more easily rally, whatever the cause.
3
I click during my morning coffee but then leave home. The print version awaits me when I settle in. Continue your duds; I call them knowledge.
3
While I admit I do tend to push international news to the back burner, I do read your articles if only to sometimes peruse and get the main idea. Please, please, keep writing. And, thank you.
4
When I was teaching, I used to tell my students that, if you're not making mistakes, you're not taking on big enough challenges
19
What a great and insightful column, thank you.
I do think the clicking away from these articles evidences America's lack of interest in international issues.
America First thinking on the part of democrats and republicans allows these international human rights issues to be just a little bit of noise on the path of thinking we are special, that our interests as humans isn't linked to the other humans of the earth.
3
I read the column just because of the humanitarian issues that are addressed and that I see no where else. However, I will admit that some times the horror of these stories overwhelms me and I have to stop. Organizations that I donate to are often chosen based on these columns. Thank you for your brave work.
13
Nicholas, they clicked away from your columns because you're preaching to the choir. The news is just so damned depressing; it's overwhelming.
4
Like many of those commenting here, I read all your columns and, when I do, I am thankful you are on the job when it comes to the global arena. Same goes for the stories dealing with the wider world you say the NYT is still committed to. I am grateful for this commitment.
13
I have followed the situation in Yemen for at least five years now, ever since my son was stationed there. Even before this war started, the situation there was challenging, especially poverty and access to drinking water. Tribal differences divided the country. Over the years it has moved from tragic to hopeless, or so it appears to a reader who can do nothing to change it. The forces against Yemen are so large and the country itself so fragmented and so poor that it is difficult to imagine a good outcome. So while I really appreciate your shining a light on this and other international tragedies, sometimes I feel too overwhelmed to read any more about it. I usually go back and read the column later when I can cope again. Please keep up your good work. It is very important.
6
Dear Mr. Kristoff, Please add me to the chorus of voices assuring you that the vast majority of your columns get read. There is not a letter I have read from another reader here that doesn't resonate with me in some way. I have even used you as a shining example to another journalist I found myself in email conversation with a couple of years ago. He had put out to his readers questions about how his publication could be more effective reaching readers with his reporting on the difficult Middle East issue he covers. It is an issue that tends to get very one-sided coverage or none in major news outlets here in the US. In particular, I mentioned the letter to readers you send out whenever you post a new column. I for one am grateful for your work covering the issues you do. I hope you will keep up this valuable work for a long time to come. Thank you!
5
I love all your work. Please keep up your valuable contributions to our world!
6
When you wrote a similar column last year, Nicholas, I commented on it, and I will write a very similar comment now.
I read every single one of your columns. Yes, I do like some better than others, but there are none I dislike. They are always well-written, insightful, thought provoking, and deal with important issues--often issues few others will write about. And I would miss it very much if they weren't there to read.
The number of discrete clicks or readings of your work has absolutely no correlation to how valuable it is. You do good.
Remember that.
12
As your said in your column, and as other commenters have observed, there is no way to know how many people read those columns in the print version of the Times. I suspect more people than you think. I myself read the paper version of the paper some days, the digital version others. As has been said in these comments-keep on covering these important stories.
4
Dear Mr. Kristof,
don't worry, people, including myself, will still like your style, your personal involvement and your restless activities travelling to the places you write about.
Yes, you had a few duds this year, but what the heck, we all have them, we just don't publish on a global scale so fallout is somewhat smaller.
Maybe you should contact some of your faithful readers that have permanent and first hand experience with some of the places you write about before you publish your stories.
Sometimes it may be a good idea to get a local guide with a second opinion.
Still, I'm looking very much forward to your articles in 2019.
Keep up the good work.
1
I liked your first column I read about your "duds" I think last year. I thank the NYTimes for printing stories that may not get the clicks, but are vital to report as are all the columns you list here. Having lived abroad most of my life, I know Americans are not interested in much beyond their borders unless they think it affects them directly. It is a narcissistic cultural defect of imagination every country has. However, education, human rights around the world do affect all in the world, so please keep on reporting them.
5
Global issues are complex. An opinion writer has several thousand dollars and his personal time commitment to research injustice in the Central African Republic. I figure his insights are worth the amount spent on the issues. I read Foreign Affairs on international issues. The writers are specialists and they spend much more time on what they write. If Mr. Kristof thinks he can make a comparable impact as an amateur with less than a week dedicated to a random issue, I think he's kidding himself.
1
Nick,
How ODD, but of all the columns you wrote this year, I think I read almost ALL of these and very few of the other "more popular" ones.
I wonder what this says about me as a reader?
Either I'm secretly your mom, or something else. Not sure what!
Keep doing what you do. I'll keep reading.
1
Well, given that over 50% of internet traffic is bots, it's entirely possible that the 'duds' are actually the ones useful to humans (but not to bots) and the ones you think people read are those the bots visit a lot (but aren't useful to humans).
Keep writing about useful things for the human minority left on this network of tubes please.
3
Your mother and I must have the same taste in articles because I read all of your least-read articles. Admittedly, I have a degree in international law and work in Africa so these issues are top-of-mind for me. Please keep writing; I'll keep reading.
2
Well, hopefully your mother and I have more in common than just that! I try to read your column every chance I can. Yours is, in fact, a voice not heard frequently enough. Thanks!
1
Cripes, if even Times readers won't read your most important columns, what hope is there for America?! Please keep doing the tough stuff, which you do so brilliantly. I humbly assert that those of us who do click through on Yemen, the Rohingya and criminal justice, matter. And are required to send readers your way.
1
I have always believed the stories in the "second section" of the paper to be the most important, not those "above the fold" on the first page. The second section stories give us the background to understand a) why things have gone awry in the recent past and b) what things will blow up next.
There is a dystopian back-and-forth dialogue between issues and countries. Fully expressed foreign autocrats eagerly use the cudgel of "fake news", justifying it because Mr. Trump does. And, it's easier for America to shred families and put children in cages when they can remind us our country is so much better than others where citizens are hacked to pieces.
Keep writing duds, Mr. Kristof. With these articles, you remind us of the possible destination of our own country if left unfettered.
You're articles on human rights abroad, the unpopular ones, are the very ones i share the most often. I post them and complain that nobody is talking about whatever issue you are covering. Keep up the good work; you are the conscience of the nation.
2
The flight attendant reminds us to get our own whiff of oxygen before helping another. Likewise, with the Kristoff columns, I have to take care of myself so I can function in this country, before I can worry about anything else.
It's exhausting and overwhelming to care about everything. When Obama was in office, I was happy to go global with you. Now, with our democracy in crisis, not so much. Let's face it. Trump ruins everything.
1
Mr. Kristof, just keep doing what your doing and please stay safe. Politicians and cable cable news infotainment aren't bringing attention to the disenfranchised and downtrodden as you are and they don't have a fraction of your personal courage. The Catholic church usually waits for a decade or two and waits for a couple of documented miracles before they consider someone for sainthood, but i would suspect that if your readers were able to be nominators, that you would already be on the fast track.
1
Dear Nick,
I love your columns and look forward to reading them twice a week, regardless of content. I also eagerly await your next book to published with your co-author and wife, Sheryl WuDunn. I frequently forward your articles, your "duds", to my daughters and family, for many reasons including enlightening them to experiences outside their small domains. Your articles, and the NY Times in general, are a component of my life long learning. Had I not picked up this paper years ago I would still have been reading about cows and agricultural prices. So thank you for your toils, troubles, adventures and care for others. Know your true audience goes beyond the clicks your articles receive and I hope the NY Times continues to publish these articles regardless.
Julie
You suffer from something that I think of as "I can't take anymore" You write serious thought provoking columns which in normal times would be read avidly.
We are not living in normal times.
It's nearly impossible to keep informed about all of the insanity in this country. By the time we are done reading about Investigations and Trump lies and Trump corruptions and Trump tantrums and Trump tweeting, there is nothing left. Reading your columns becomes exhausting and often feels like pouring gasoline on the fire.
In short, I don't think it has a thing to do with your excellent columns. I just think people don't have the juice left after they've read what they think they should.
Keep up the good fight, Mr. Kristof.
2
So your metrics are from data collected on web hit timings?
Things might be even worse than you think, since browsers with multiple tabs allow readers to check their mail or other sites while leaving your piece active.
That said, please encourage your columnist colleagues to publish their duds as well using the same methodology.
1
Mr. Kristof,
I admit that often we (or at least I) click on the brightest and flashiest new toy -- or headline on the nytimes website. I clicked through all of your "duds," just now and they were all good articles, even those I had not read. Keep writing about what you think is important! Sometimes we need to pry ourselves away from the daily news cycles and think about what is important in the long term. That's one of the reasons I read your columns. I thank you for your work!
2
I read them all but not always as they come out. Keep up the outstanding work. Though your columns sometimes make me sad about the state of the world, it's import to know and really does impact my donations to different organizations. You're terrific and your Mom should be really proud. I know she is.
Happy Holidays and thank you for getting the important stories out there.
1
Some of us still read a morning newspaper. My wife and I are one of those couples. Happily, you can't count our clicks. Anyway we seldom miss your stuff. I would hope there are many more just like us. No duds so far in our experience reading your work. Accolades from us.
2
Being one of your readers that live overseas, I appreciate the coverage of stories outside of the U.S. I understand folks absorption of the ongoing train wreck of our democracy, but we do not live in a bubble, despite Trumpista's delusional fantasies. I know there are Times journalists covering climate, but until and unless a large majority of Americans understand the existential gravity of this crisis, there is not enough being written on the human caused catastrophe that might well destroy our entire civilization. I would humbly suggest that because many of the issues you take up in your reporting are in fact exasperated or even caused by climate changes, perhaps you could consider writing sometimes about international problems through a climate looking glass. Thank you.
2
I must confess that I read less and less international stories however this Colum has brought it to my attention and I will try and do better. The reason is I believe our country is going down hill so fast we must focus on home first. When I read about people needing health care and food in a far away country I immediate think of people here who have lost their social safety net protection. When I hear about schools or housing I think of terrible pictures I have seen here.
4
You are judging based the response of digital readers only. Such readers, myself included, tend to jump around and do not read systematically. Those who still read the paper version are more likely to read from cover to cover, as it were.
So you probably have readers of these columns than you imagined.
1
Bang the drum repeatedly for your theme in "These Kids Could Tutor World Leaders." There's a lot of talk nowadays about losing democracy, in the USA as elsewhere. Fingers rush to the dike. As to the rising flood, Jefferson told us long ago: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
1
Mr. Kristoff, I like your columns a lot. I read every one. But sometimes not right away.
Especially if it is an especially egregious Trump day. The problems you write about take a great deal of energy to deal with, and sometimes our own problems here in the US these days deplete my reservoir of mental energy, so I put your column aside for a few days.
I bet if you did the analysis, your least read columns appear on the worst days, perhaps days when we get another Trump indictment plus a mass shooting?
Please do not stop writing your columns on international topics, Americans are just about to find out how irremediably enmeshed we are with our fellow human beings, all over the world. Because you not only point put problems, but move us toward potential solutions.
2
"Out of sight, out of mind." Another example, we see apparently able-bodied individuals using EBT cards at Walmart and are incensed by it. What we don't see is the Walton family getting huge tax breaks and therefore, we don't care.
I'm a great fan. Please keep it up. Just so I'm clear, you monitor what I read?
I heard you speak at Princeton over a year ago and am still thinking about some of the things you said...especially about children worldwide and where resources can best be spent. Carry on, Mr. Kristof. Our navel-gazing seems at an all time high, but eventually this era will pass and your stuff will be some of what has lasting meaning.
2
If I see a column authored by Kristof, I make sure I read it. It is thoughtful, clear and cogent. Invariably I feel more educated and better informed after reading Kristof's columns, even the ones he labeled as duds!
Keep up the good work!!
3
I value your columns precisely because you remind us of our duty as global citizens. I particularly appreciated the force with which you condemned the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Your work is important and I long for days when it won't be drowned out by Trump's daily dose of mayhem, scandal and criminality.
2
The person who said ‘mission accomplished’ in Iraq was not really Bush—he did literally (and stupidly) say it but then refused to withdraw with Iraq in chaos; it was really Obama who said “Mission accomplished’ by pulling out our trips, spawning ISIS. I understand the argument that Bush broke Iraq and left Obama with poor choices. But I wish Obama would be honest about it rather than try to blame the Iraqis for not agreeing to terms for an ongoing US presence in Iraq. Obama folded up the flag and decided to pull out.
I find it ironic that the same liberals who defend Obama on Iraq now criticize Trump’s pull out from Syria. Republicans and democrats both flip flop there views depending on whether their man is in power.
I adore you and Nicholas and wd love to go backpacking some day w you and your daughter!
1
As a digital only subscriber, I'd love if the times added a daily "least read" list to the menu bar. We all need help getting away from algorithms and perhaps the least read is the most important, as evidenced by this piece.
5
@daughter of rjw
Way to go. Start from the bottom up!
1
I'm so glad the NY Times still values international coverage, and a "dud" of a story shouldn't be measured only by one's audience. As Mr. Kristof notes, "...the challenge is that if [more journalist covered international stories], even more news organizations would be going broke." As he says, the biggest audiences are for stories in the immediate news and anything related to President Trump. And it's not just the stories. Even in these comment sections, the highest number of "recommendations" often go to the angriest screed against President Trump, not always to the most thoughtful commentary.
So, no, Mr. Kristof, your articles weren't "duds." We need you and other journalists to keep us apprised of the rest of the world. Profitability is critical, to be sure. But there are more important things than clicks and comments.
4
Nick, I've always enjoyed your columns. I will say, however, that in this 24/7 Orange Menace world we live in, I tend to prefer Charles Blow for my "resistance" diet (though I see he's taking a break now), and Bret Stephens for my have-some-faith-there's-still-sane-Republicans fix. I wish you would write more about China. I lived there for nine years and on a good day regard myself as somewhat of a "Zhong Guo Tong," but not nearly as much as you are. I remember you going to a public security office in Beijing in advance of the '08 Olympics (I'd been there two years at the time) to apply to "demonstrate" somewhere near the venues for some dubious cause or group you'd made up. The sheer idiocy of the process you went through and documented was classic, and I'll always remember that. Now China is becoming a far darker place, and your perspective would be MOST welcome. Anyway, not to worry, you're among the best no matter what you're writing about!!
1
It seems as if WE are the duds. It is sad but true that the salacious deeds of our ersatz president capture our collective attention the most.
Often after the regurgitation of the same stories hour after hour on TV news, I say to myself “there is a world out there, I’m going to read”. Trump has managed to dominate the media for 3 years. I’m sick of that name and his face.
Keep up the great, tireless reporting that you do. I vow to read more of your columns.
2
Cheer up! Some of us are dinosaurs and read print, including your column faithfully and in full!
1
As a marketer, I humbly suggest that the header of "My Biggest Duds" isn't going to do much for your numbers.
Happy Holidays!
1
You are my hero--and I'm not your mom!
1
Dear Nick,
I hope I can call you Nick. Sometimes my reading of your columns is akin to that of your Mother's although we aren't related. You are a fellow Oregonian and I think I should read what you have toiled so mightily to write.
But, that's not the real reason I read your columns. Heck, I might read you even if you were from California. In fact, one of your columns caused me to write to the Governor of that forlorn state about his duty to do DNA testing in Kevin Cooper's case. I tell myself I read your columns because I care about the events you write about.
Even if one starts reading one of your columns because of familial loyalty of loyalty to a fellow Oregonian, by the time we get to the end of the column you have made us more aware of an issue we should care about. Thank you.
I do read you and I read the NYT for international news. Kind of sad you know how many read your columns because your employers do too. The Times is an international paper because it supports reporters and columnists like you. My only criticism is sometimes you are too sunny about how things can or aught to be fixed. Practically all of Africa needs something not just the Central African Republic. Many of us have sympathy for refugees but know how destabilizing they and economic migrants are to western Europe. For many of these tragic situations there are not easy answers. Sometimes I wish I lived in Luxembourg so I would think there wasn't anything my country could do about the mess the world is in. Just drink my coffee in peace.
1
''Human rights and humanitarian topics often do particularly poorly by digital metrics...'' - regardless, who among us will be the voice of millions that go maligned or be left behind ? I would submit it is you (and others), that have a platform and use for good, let alone good journalism.
There SHOULDN'T be a business model for that. You cannot advertise on the backs of the people you report about.
Our world is shrinking, that whatever happens over there is directly affecting what is happening over here. We need voices that are going to pull back the veneer of truth and lay out what we need to see. (even if we do not want to)
You are one of me favorite columnists, BECAUSE of that fact, and although some topics are a little hard to digest, we are all better for it.
It makes us all more human.
Thank you & happy holidays .
2
Your tale of journalistic woe told right at Christmas makes me think of the birthday boy himself. He too focused on stories no one wanted to hear about. Stories of the poor, the meek, hungerers for justice, oppressed women, the neglected disabled.
Like your colleagues he too was imprisoned when people did start to click on his stories. Like some of your colleagues he was killed by powerful political leaders when too many people listened to him.
We celebrate Christmas because we have noticed. A lot of us celebrate Nick Kristof because you keep alive the most important message ever delivered. And don’t worry. People with ears to hear will click on your stories.
Please keep writing about corners of the world that many consider "obscure", and -while doing so - there's no need to mention the name Trump. The NYT coverage of the president is repetitive and way over the top. Your column about Yemen was excellent - I hadn't been aware of the dire situation there, nor of our regrettable involvement in it...and perhaps the column played a role in the Senate's recent action vis a vis our role there.
1
Personally, I have a proclivity to over intellectualize when making comments. Sometimes I'll use humor, but I must confess, I have a soft underbelly.
It sometimes rises to my throat. I couldn't make it through the column about "Yemen's Misery."
One can feel helpless about many issues close to home, let alone torture at a distance. Perhaps, you're doing your job too, well!
3
Your columns are extremely important and I’m sure are read by many of us who need to hear from great and dedicated reporters like you. Please don’t be discouraged and please keep writing as you have been. You are a stable wonder.
1
Mr. Kristof, you've said two things in this article that perhaps you didn't mean to say:
First, you pointed out how shallow Americans are. The fact is, most Americans - by your reader count of articles that truly matter - don't have the time or interest to read about tragedies on the other side of the world. Far too many of us are addicted to outrage, and if it doesn't fill us with that self-satisfying sense of righteous indignation, we're not all that interested.
Second, you reminded us why the for-profit news model may not be the best way to keep the public informed. I, too, am glad that your employer sees value in those seldom-read columns, but your employer is anomalous. Most news outlets are competing for readers & listeners, and because of observation #1 above, that excludes articles that truly matter.
And so, even when someone like you risks life & limb to uncover these outrageous truths, you are met with a collective yawn from the American public and a corporate news machine that says, "What's in it for me?"
As the old saying goes, however, right is right even if you stand alone, and wrong is wrong even if the whole world is headed that way. I'm with your mother, Mr. K - I'm going to follow every word you publish, with deep gratitude for your courage and commitment.
1
I don’t know how the bots know someone “clicked away” from a story without reading it. I may choose to read an opinion piece slowly and in depth, or I may scan it quickly to get the gist of it. In both instances I have read it. Sometimes I’ll speed through it and copy the URL to share the piece with someone (I don’t share through the newspaper share button). I may speed through because I have read or heard a similar presentation elsewhere, not because I have no interest in the subject. That was true with your Yemen piece. I was deeply interested, but had recently read in-depth about Yemen and had seen a report on the atrocities on tv. So I scanned your piece and moved on.
I understand why the paper gathers and analyzes these metrics, but I wonder how meaningful they are. After all, most people don’t read past the first paragraph or three of any article or essay (and too often post in the comments anyway).
When I click away (with prejudice) from an essay, it’s generally because of the writer’s voice, not the content. If it’s a soapbox screed, I’m gone.
1
Count me in for reading the hard copy NYT delivered to my door each morning. Digital format is only a supplement. I can’t be the only one left. Don’t be discouraged by low click-count!
1
I am a guilty party here. I know these are deeply important stories but my emotional vision hardly extends beyond my family, friends, and critters. Reason only seems to drag up a fairly impotent sense of guilt. I struggle to be better, but it is uphill all the way.
1
One possibility for the low readership on your "duds" (I've read almost all of them, some more rapidly than others) is that international issues in which the US is not involved are less read. Let's call this "home bias" which applies to not just news articles but all kinds of things including food and movies.
Digging deeper into the nature of home bias on your duds will take an experiment, but like all experiments you must start with a hypothesis. Let's take the hypothesis "the article is too negative and it does not have any bearing on the US or my personal welfare, so I'm going to exit this article" Let's suppose you did find a way to "test" this hypothesis and saw it was true? Then what? Would you change the way you wrote these articles to, say, imply that if this problem wasn't solved then it would in fact affect our lives in the US? Or would you change it to, say, have a positive conclusion about how the reader's participation in a specific way can change something. This would address the problem I face, namely the feeling of impotence, after reading your article, about being able to change anything. Not sure about the answers, but I would be curious. Your Yemen article in fact had the implication we could try to stop the hunger by making a contribution (even though that's never enough)
Nicholas Kristof: Your work has moved me and shaken me for years. Your work is a model for all journalists. Your heart beams out along with the analysis. If anyone should be proud and fulfilled looking at a career, you are well deserving. THANK YOU FOR YOUR STELLAR HARD WORK! (And no, this is not your mother speaking! Ha Ha)
2
@Nick Kristof, most times we read your op-eds but not necessarily respond in force. That does not mean we don't appreciate your passion for them. Pl. continue to write what gets you going. We'll read them, maybe not respond in droves.
Besides The Times has an "out of touch with audience" model of shutting comments within 12+ hours unlike the Washpost with a more generous 2 weeks...hardly gives us on the "other" coast to comment.
1
It's important to say things even if people don't want to hear them.
3
I have to admit, sometimes I turn to the news as an escape in the middle of work.. . .so that's when I don't hit the serious columns. But if it's an issue that I think needs more attention, sometimes I'll click through just to "vote" on its importance.
Dear Mr. Kristoff. I greatly value your columns. I fear, tho, that you are forgetting that some of us old timers still like to read a PAPER VERSION of the Times, which I do daily, in addition to online. No clicks involved. Please know that I am mentally clicking approval of your essays as I get NYTimes ink all over my fingers. Please keep up your valuable work!
2
Ah, don't ignore chaos theory - the theory that a butterfly in China can cause a hurricane off the coast of Florida. Even if just one person reads your column, that one person can start an avalanche and create a change. Democracy, justice, empathy, wisdom, all depend on journalists. If I was to do it all over again, I would be a journalist, even if the pay stinks.
What ever you do Nick, just don't quit writing. The old "whatever bleeds, leads" approach may keep some media alive but we also need a conscience. You give us thoughtful information in your columns with a big taste of what's right and what's wrong in the US and the world. Without this we may just sink into a Trump torpor that makes us ill.
Thank you.
2
I read the print version so no way for you to know if I read or did not read. But I can verify that I retold a few stories of yours over the years. One quotation of yours from Sojona, who sold off his daughter, not because of his lack of concern but because of his love is particularly powerful. Although it is true that there is some callousness or misplaced sense of tradition in some instances of child brides, in many if not most cases, it is desperation due to poverty or violence. This is a critical and most often overlooked aspect of child marriage that you brought to people's attention. Similarly, an article that highlighted Poonan (2015) a victim of human (child) trafficking, whose father was deceived, brought to light overlooked angles. I retold these stories in a textbook on global problems. (And other stories in textbook on globalization) I also used your articles in classes over the last (nearly) two decades. I am sure that I am not the only person who has done this. So while some people have clicked away, many more have had second hand exposure to your work. I thank you for the many years of reporting the voices of the world's victims.
2
As a retired high school social studies teacher who spent 40 in years in the classroom ( eight years teaching overseas) trying to encourage my students to be good citizens, global, national and local citizens, I sometimes feel that I was a failure too, but I believe we globalist have a passion and have had some successes in passing on that passion as indicated b the number of youth wanting tp join such organizations as the Peace Corps. I believe the quality of your work creates a quality of responses .
5
I find the tone a little sanctimonious here. And this is from someone who read some of those "duds" and appreciated them.
2
Dear Mr. Kristof:
I always read your articles even if I don’t want to. Perhaps it’s because I don’t wish to sleep to soundly at night. Keep reporting, a good night sleep is a small trade off regarding the true crisises and actions necessary to address the worlds serious problems.
4
The reason I skip most of Mr. Kristof's columns is that they lean
toward tugging the heartstrings without nourishing the intellect.
For example, in the Middle East, we know that things are rough
there. But how can the area be brought up to average standards
of governance, let alone those of the West? It's 400 years
behind, after all.
2
My Dear Mr Kristoff, you seem to be confused. I cannot guess why my favorite columns are some of your least popular, but I hope that will not discourage you. You do a beautiful job of looking straight at the truth and providing clear documentation. I am grateful for the quality of your work and the ferocity of your truth telling. And I forward your columns to my friends and family all the time. You know when you're right and the rest of us do, too, even when it's hard to keep reading. Thank you!
8
Mr. Kristof, I read almost all of your columns. I distinctly remember skipping the one on Yemen. It was late at night and I was so horrified by the picture and what our policies are doing that I knew I wouldn't sleep if I read it. Sometimes it's not that we are disinterested but rather, we are painfully aware of our country's missteps and it is too difficult to digest any more.
4
Mr. Kristof, Not just your mom, but the state of Oregon is proud of you. Keep on following your instincts and sharing with us your interests and your passions. Yours is an essential, thought-provoking voice -- one that calls loudly to make this a better world. Thank you.
9
Thank you Mr. Kristof for all of your work.... I pray that the NYT continues to allow your reporting from all corners of the globe and all areas of content no matter how uncomfortable it makes us to even read the headlines. We can only deal with what we can see - and it takes strength, courage, and persistence to uncover what needs to be seen.
6
Your columns are important and different. Being different carries risks. Keep fighting the good fight and I hope you can also begin to take on the Military Industrial complex and what it is costing the United States. Happy and healthy New Year
4
Nick, I've been reading your columns for many years now, and read every one. I've found the ones on the ongoing slaughter in Yemen and the massacre of the Rohingya from Myanmar to be brilliantly enlightening. I first learned about both of those stories from your columns.
Had I seen an article about Yemen or the Rohingya in the regular news, I may not have caught onto it right away. But the fact that a column with your authorship always attracts my attention, I will read what you write. And then when I see other articles about Yemen or Myanmar's Rohingya, I will read them. Thus, I have become much more aware of global atrocities, including those in South Sudan, Syria, Palestine, etc., than I would have without your columns.
Thank you for "expanding my horizons." I treasure your writing!
8
Dear Mr. Kristof,
First, I agree with other comments that all of the columns you mention deserve to be published and read. I admit that I have not read most of them when they appeared, but am compensating for that now.
Here is a suggestion that may make things better, leave them about the same, or make them worse. Please use at your own risk.
When you describe a desperate situation somewhere, the key question for me would be what I can I do about it. Most of the readers I would assume are from the US, so what can we do? Should we email or call our representatives? Should we support some philanthropic organizations that are working to address the problem? If so, what are they? Perhaps some part of the article could address that or at least you could provide a link to where such questions are addressed.
There are so many depressing news already. I agree that as a society we could do so much better in helping people all over the world who are in desperate situations. Speaking for myself, I would be more motivated to read a column which also prompts me to take action, even if I may end up not following any recommendations. I already do contribute to many philanthropic organizations, so it won't be because I'm doing nothing. Of course I could and should do a lot more. Sigh.
5
@Alex J I completely agree. I do not do well with just getting bad news, I need to know how I can make a difference, even in a small way. I believe I'm not alone.
Thank you for your suggestions; it would make Mr. Kristof's columns more readable because they would inspire others to do something about the problems that he highlights. The coverage and writing are good, now let us help. It would be nice to someday have Mr. Kristof reporting on how we solved something.
1
You’re one of our family’s favorite op-ed writers and we read and discuss your pieces regularly both in print and online. Please keep writing about what interests you because you’re educating us about the world we live in and we need it.
2
Thank you for keeping us aware of our sisters and brothers around the world. It is vital we remain aware that we are one family, even as the we throw tantrums, still we move kicking and biting and complaining towards a global consciousness. Sure, fear and bluster right now push us into retreat to the old national, even tribal thinking. I pray this is only temporary. As a volunteer with RESULTS.org, even though I work on US poverty, I am so grateful for your articles. Well maybe when they make me flinch and feel helpless, I read them the next day. Then forward them to my RESULTS Global poverty friends to use as hooks to get the attention of our members of Congress. So thanks. And, about online vs paper? My husband and I read the paper version except when it's late. Then the paper goes under the cat's litter pan.
3
Dear Mr. Kristof: I read all your columns with great interest. As I read them in the print edition my read-through-to-the-end is not reported back to you. Solutions for the issues you raise are not easily discernible - the more discouraging. Do not lose heart, your important and much-needed voice is essential. Keep writing. Thank you.
4
Dear Mr. Kristof: living in the bottom end of the American Continent, just be assured that I'm one of your faithful readers. Perhaps some of your columns I read superficially, but most I read and sometimes resend. Thank you for your vision and commitment to education, true development and working for a better world.
And specially thank you for writing on other topics than Donald Trump
7
I agree about the importance of a business model, but that's not enough to keep your subjects in our face - that keeps humanitarian subjects in our face. And to your credit and to the NYT's credit you do that. Like NGO's the revenue model must depend on contributions from people who care about the work, not entirely relying on a "business" model. Granted the term "business model" has different nuances, and can apply to non-profits as well as profits, but the work you do is unlikely to be justified in the longterm by the NYT based on a business model. I believe you need to tap the pocketbooks of your readers who believe enough in your work to support the work financially. A subscription to the NYT won't cut it. I don't see another alternative other than a combination of a business model and a NGO model. And I would press in on this concept with all I've got until I either succeed or exhaust myself trying.
1
It is hard to get past Trump as an acute story. International news is the chronic story. So I read your columns, never comment. But then I listen to BBC radio, watch the Prime Minister's questions.
More serious, I do watch international news as a former Rotary District Governor (1997-98), we care for the people of the world.
The other night (midnight my time), I was in conference call for ISO standards development. Britain, France,Germany, myself (USA) and Japan were on the line. I offered them our president to solve Brexit (as he said the deal was easy). They offered me Macon, May, Merkel- we all had a chuckle with Japan. THen we got down to the business of consensus global development.
3
Mr. Kristoff, I read better than 90% of your columns when I see them. And almost every one deserves an award. You are a treasure.
10
NK, Please put me in the fan category with your mom! Outstanding writing and subject matter! Please continue in 2019.
Well done.
9
I try to read your columns but frankly the deaths of humans throughout the world for whatever reason no longer matters to me. Humans have devastated our planet with our unrestrained reproduction and destruction of wildlife and land. When there are deaths of non-human species which number less than a few thousand or a few hundred, I mourn. But I see the deaths of humans in any number as a benefit to our planet and its other remaining species.
1
@June Although I agree with your assessment of our species' ecological impact, Mr. Kristof, at sometimes personal peril, seeks to highlight our intraspecies villainy and does so with clarity.
3
I find this response monstrous. Over population, particularly in very poor and environmentally devastated areas is a terrible problem, but until we have the political will to bring education and family planning to poor women and men, we should not accept suffering and death as a substitute.
Mr. Kristof, I read your columns online & on Sundays, for a treat, in my delivered hard copy of the NYT (so that makes at least two readers on Sundays—your mom & me). In my house, with two teenagers, you are revered as a hero for traveling the world, at great personal risk, to bring awareness of injustice to all of us. We are grateful & deeply admiring of your work, perhaps especially, the “duds.”
1
I look forward to all your writings and discuss with friends. Keep up the good work we need you badly in this crazy mixed up world. You have a heart of gold that is easy to see. Bless you And thank you for your good work.
5
Dear Mr. Kristof,
Please don't think that your fans don't care about the issues you do. But I, and probably others, can get overwhelmed by topics which are distressing and which, unfortunately, we have little power to improve. Sexual abuse worldwide, war, genocide and human rights violations are very distressing but not really within our capacity to change. My heart sinks at some of those titles, but then I just can't rally myself to jump into someone's suffering. I suspect that reaction isn't unique to me.
7
Nick - thank you for continuing to bring voice and perspective to places in the world that don’t get our attention. Sometimes even just reaching one well placed person can make all the difference.
3
Mr. Kristof: I read all of your columns and appreciate the fact that you do bring to my attention issues, situations, and needs beyond our own shores. Keep it up. By the way, I’m not even one of your relatives!
2
I always read your columns and often share them on Facebook! The issues you present in your columns are IMPORTANT, especially those least read. Perhaps many of us haven't the stomach to read about some of the horrors perpetrated by our influence, or lack thereof, in the world. We NEED to be aware of these things and, yes, look at pictures of starving children in Yemen. We need to know and try to influence our Congress to do something about it - like stopping support for Saudi Arabia's war on Yemen.
4
Your mother and I should have lunch and talk about how much we enjoy your columns. I never miss one. I don't always agree, but I always appreciate your perspective, and you frequently highlight topics that deserve attention.
2
Thank you for the light you shine on many important stories that otherwise are underreported. It is sad that "important" doesn't always translate to "interesting" to the average reader. I confess that I'm often guilty of being overwhelmed by the horrors unfolding around the world, and click instead on stories of easy outrage closer to home. It's simpler to feel superior to silly right-wingers and their "War on Christmas" rants than to do something about the war in Yemen. We as citizen readers need to do better.
3
"Duds?" Not necessarily so. At times I experience reader fatigue. I won't bore you with my work and efforts in both social justice and charity organizations in which I participate.
I won't list the variety of media outlets I read and visit to obtain news. But there are times, when I just need to pass on an article. I can't handle another one. I am spent. But that doesn't mean I am not aware and your article was a "dud."
Keep on, soldier.
8
I have watched and listened for many years. I am not one to make many comments but be sure your columns are read often. Thanks for all you do.
9
Mr. Kristof, thank you for your efforts this year to divert to humanity’s problems across the world. Unfortunately, we have this thing going on in our country that occupies a lot of our time. For me, it’s the equivalent of rearranging the china during the hurricane.
I’m reminded of the statement the flight attendants give before every flight. In the event of a loss of cabin pressure place your mask on first before attempting to place a mask on your child.
6
Nick, your columns are among those which I read preferentially. I also enjoy seeing you one MSNBC from time to time. I will keep reading in 2019.
6
Remember, just because there weren't a stack of comments doesn't mean no one read it. It's easier to respond with anger and insults to clear political idiocy having to do with the Presidency, e.g., than to serious articles that seem overwhelmingly sad and resistant to our input.
5
Mr. Kristoff, your work shines a light on those “hidden in plain sight” global issues that we in the US need to know and care about. Thank you for helping to make me and so many others aware. Peace to you in the coming year.
10
I find it heartbreaking that these global stories about human rights and struggles are mostly ignored. Must say, I'm guilty of some of it, but Mr. Kristof's work encourages us to think beyond our USA tribe.
Keep up the great work Mr. Kristof and someday....maybe...we will use our global position and big, amazing military to the betterment of mankind instead of corporate bottom lines, and egos.
7
This is fascinating information. It highlights how blind we can be to the countervailing beliefs and perspectives sincerely held by other people. This is gold. If this reality was calmly discussed and better understood in the commons rather than everybody scolding and shaming each other there there might actually be space for our better angels to influence us.
5
As another native Oregonian, I can see in you the cultural self-deprecation that pervades our region. As others have said, your work is critical and your travels can be dangerous. I am grateful for your courage and your voice, which cries for social justice in the cacophonous world of serious media.
11
Nicholas, you are an international treasure. All of these articles deserved serious consideration. Thank you for the tremendous work you do across the globe to tell important stories. Keep writing and we will keep reading.
25
Thank you for your passion and talent in educating us on issues that matter greatly. You inspire us to look outside our neighborhoods and expand our worlds. We learn so much from your columns...but perhaps empathy is the greatest take away.
You are my favorite columnist and I speak of and share your columns with my people regularly.
With the deepest admiration! Keep on with your calling! Happy Holidays!
8
I loved the "duds"! Thank you for bringing your perspective to the forefront. One day more will realize that what affects a village across the world really does affect us here too. We are intertwined peoples no matter our borders.
12
Nicholas Kristof changes the world for the better every day. Over 18 years ago I emailed him at the NYTimes and he responded with a brief congratulations and encouragement. His wife and he had written a book I read (don't remember the name). Essentially it contained information about China. Humanizing the people, the culture, it hit a nerve with me. My husband at the time and I had been contemplating adopting a baby girl from China but I was scared. It seemed radical, a risk. Those who were even more skeptical than me (my parents, my ex-husband) are now either deceased or have left me for a younger woman. My daughter is fantastic, about to graduate from high school in May. She is the light of my life, a hard worker and a great person, with several good scholarship offers to choose from. Thank you Nick, for everything you do. You inspire me.
36
@Kathy. Thank you for sharing your story. What a powerful reflection and tribute to international adoptions. Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season.
Mr. Kristof,
In bringing home a year-end testimony of your travels and a list of 'duds', you are to be reminded that your readership continues to expand beyond the International New York Times and branches out.
Unwittingly in his 'Lost in Uttar Pradesh', Evan S. Connell may have offered you an insight into our multifaceted and diverse points of view in his forgotten 'Proctor Bemis', and where he is sitting 'On Election Eve'.
In the midst of mirth mixed with reality, this reader of yours once wrote to a newcomer, a humanitarian from Khartoum, on the eve of the 2008 presidential election what to expect on coming to America with his family - essentially true, he was to respond. but my children already have a dog.
There has been a long line of broken-hearts at the door here weeping over the plight of Yemen, or Syria, while urgently trying to serve as star indicators for their religion or political bend. In turn, this has prompted on my part a modest donation to the National Heart Association.
You are seldom careless, dishonest, and with this in mind, I remember your lost 'childhood' friend. In some way, you were writing about us, but we did not realize it at the time. Some of us are shifting uneasily in our seat, while taking this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones some Joy this Holiday Season.
Your voice is needed more than ever.
17
@Miss Ley
Astute, and elegant. As always.
Happy Holidays.
4
@Phyliss Dalmatian,
Your absence has been noted and glad to see you have returned. Wishing you and yours the happiest of this celebratory Season, and many thanks for your encouragement.
2
@Miss Ley
Thank you. Apparently, I’m on the naughty list for the comments moderators. My bad, or something.
1
You continue to be a voice of reason, of information, of hope. It's clear that you won't give up. For that, we are fortunate and thankful. Wishing you and your family a good holiday.
18
Mr. Kristof,
I continue to read the NYT's because of you. All the columns that you talked about were heavy hitters to me. I am a social worker in Indiana. I forward your columns to all the other social workers that I know who do not regularly read the NYT's.
Linda from Indianapolis
12
I wonder if party of if is the lack of focus by the NYT. I read the print version and supplement it with the stories online, including Facebook. On Facebook I don't think there is as much coverage of the international side.
One other issue I have which may only be partially related. Stories tend to have different titles in print and online, making it harder to share when I read the print and want to share it online.
3
Mr.Kristof, please do not regret your “duds”.I have read some of them and am moved to tears. Some are hard to read because we cannot believe that such human rights abuses exist.There may not be so many clicks because we are so distraught at the chaos in our own country caused by Mr.Trump that we simply do not have the emotional energy to handle more grief.Please keep educating us!
21
This trend toward making coverage decisions based on click count is alarming.
I was told yesterday by an authoritative source that our local paper, part of the Gannett chain, doesn't cover our exciting local university sports teams because the stories don't get enough clicks!
We need to re-think this internet thing! :-)
6
@akp3
Re-think? When was there any thought about the internet?
1
I wouldn't worry too much about the 'duds' Mr. Kristof. I don't think the idea of using clicks and hits as definitional parameters for what is important in journalism is a useful one. You write well and passionately about global and humanitarian topics that may not be 'hot' as far as general readership goes, but which are fundamental and urgently needed by any newspaper that aspires to complete reportage on international matters. Those of us who do read you read you precisely because you address those topics. And in these dark times when authoritarianism dressed in sheep's populism seems to dominate the daily news cycles, it's vital to have reminders that there is a both a larger and more complex world out there and -- paradoxically -- more intimate and personal histories that are impacted by that complexity.
You do good work. Please keep doing it. Thank you.
24
Thank you for your coverage of global issues -- Rohingya, Yemen, Syria. We need to understand what is going on in the world, and what our governments are doing in our name. For example, everyone talks about the refugee crisis in Europe, but few talk about the culpability of western governments, especially the US, in creating millions of refugees (from Iraq and Afghanistan) in the first place. Yemen is another refugee crisis waiting to happen. Everyone will worry about refugees flooding Europe. Few will remember US and UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia and support for Saudi Arabia's brutal campaign in Yemen. Someone needs to speak truth to power.
14
Thanks to you, Mr Kristof, for reliably being the eloquent voice crying out for justice in the world. That voice, too often in the wilderness, is a big part of my continuing to be a subscriber to the print edition of this newspaper. May you run out of subjects of injustice to write about in the New Year.
17
One should not forget to mention the 'jihad' movement started by the Mujahid party in Northern Arakan with the aim of creating an Islamic State in the region. They are the ones who started to use the term Rohingya and they are active to this day in remote regions. The civil population is of course innocent victims, but in that region of Myanmar there are several other ethnic groups who have been hostile to Rohingya expansion in addition to the Burmese.
It is not to excuse the atrocities committed by repressive governments, but one should keep in mind, like in the case of Kurdish movement in the Middle East, the atrocities committed by such minority movements, often financed by other groups and governments, which lead to nationalist or ethnic backlash.
2
Keep it up Mr. Kristof. The topics you cover are important. Your commitment to them is inspiring and why I have such high regard for real journalists. It may not be glitzy or what we always want to hear, but it is what we need to hear. Thank you and Happy Holidays to you and yours.
21
To take from the old Jerry Seinfeld show, "it's not you, it's me", or in this case us. The articles you considered duds because of lower readership are necessary to bring these issues into view. Perhaps we are so consumed and overwhelmed by Trump that we cannot widen our view. We need you and your like colleagues to be persistent in telling us there is more to the world than the U.S. It is not just about us.
Keep up the good work! We need it.
43
We enjoy reading your columns, about both local and international issues. I especially appreciate the ones you write about guns and the NRA. You had the same experiences with the NRA in rural Oregon that my husband had in rural California. It's too bad the NRA has lost its way.
7
If you worry that your international stories don't get hits, you should look at which international stories get more hits. I bet your stories about the Gates' get a lot of hits, and that would be because those stories contain a fair bit of good news. I don't want to read international stories which are mostly bad news. I want signs of hope, and because I'm an economist, I like some numbers too.
4
It worked!!!! I went back and read the columns I missed. I love your year end round up (I fall for your guilt trip each time) and your columns which are thoughtful measured and well written. You are enterprising, insightful, courageous and thought provoking. You are appreciated!!!
38
Please keep writing powerfully about the powerless and the forgotten people in our world. Your voice and passion are important, and help us realize how little our own problems matter when we learn how others are suffering. You are a valuable gem, a brave and kind man, and I suspect more of us appreciate you than you realize.
43
Op-ed writing was easier when there wasn't dopamine and clicks involved. There was a time when a reader had about five Op-eds from which to choose. Now, we have 500. People click on what appeals viscerally, instead of intellectually. And these days, the letters T R U M P trigger the dopamine outrage burst even before the reader realizes it. And for papers, clicks equal profits, and for writers, raises. So the dopamine keeps getting pumped.
7
I skip over the humanitarian stories because they are written in the style I detest; one small personal example being used to illustrate the problem, then a dusting of statistics to give a sense of scope. There is an old journalistic idea that you have to put a face on a story to make it relatable to readers. I'd rather the personal example illustrating it be a side-note or appendix, not the vast majority of the article. Reading a personal story like that seems more like disaster-P# than a serious analysis of the situation. The purpose of that put-a-face-on-it style is to create empathy where there was none; most effectively when its meant to culture-jam demonization in a controversy the public is already focused on. But if we already have empathy for the person, the style accomplishes nothing. Americans made the decision to not feel any moral responsibility for what happens in the middle east when they rejected Obama's call for action in Syria. Yes they feel bad for those kids in Yemen, but they refuse to feel ownership over their contribution. The put-a-face-on-it style with which you've written about it just focuses the mind on feeling bad for those kids; it doesn't make us take ownership over our involvement. The weapons sales, the strategic info sharing, the apparently corrupt basis of the alliance, the total disregard of oversight for the consequences of our actions; that would all be better covered by asking hard questions to power than showcasing victims.
17
Please continue your writing - it is important to stand up to human rights and drag abuses into the sunshine.
Unfortunately, we are constantly drowned in the torrent of Trump's lies which act as a great detractor and which pose a real threat to our democracy. If we can't fix our own house, how can we fix that of others?
14
One of the clicks on the US in Yemen column was mine! It was intensely distressing but such an important story and a memorable column. Well done. I think I read the Metoo one too, because I remember that horrifying statistic about Papua New Guinea.
I think the biggest obstacle to important stories like these getting the hearing they deserve is that news organizations (and pseudo-news organizations) chronically overstimulate people's anger and fear to get eyeballs on their material and justify themselves to their advertisers. Add to that that there actually are a lot of real crises that deserve attention right now and that Americans have practically made a religion in recent years of not tolerating a bummer and we have a serious problem.
2
The duds are not you, they are us, TImes readers, Americans, human beings. We are tribal. We don't care about human beings different from us (we assume), from other countries, other ethnic groups, races, etc. The only time we care is if one of "them" attacks "us." It took a horror story (if it bleeds, it leads) of an American resident journalist chopped to bits to notice that, hey, millions are on the verge of starvation in Yemen, and perhaps a hundred thousand have already died.
It worked when we were hunter-gatherers. Its not working anymore. So keep writing those important stories, Nicholas, until we start to get hearts in our brains.
26
In an age of the million channel universe your voice is as loud as any. You are there in print, internet and on television in every corner of the world. More and more people are waking up to the fact that it is going take most of us working together to repair our mess. Greed and hubris only exacerbates our problems.
The USA has abrogated any leadership role but even so NYT readership is found in every corner of the world.
It took until yesterday for our leadership here in the best country in the world to reconsider our agreement to sell arms to the Saudis. It is a beginning. Your voice is a major one in the chorus.
6
You're the most important op-ed columnist in the NYT today. Don't sell yourself short. When we're all long gone, its not going to be about how much money we made or how many possessions we acquired, but about how we treated each other. That's what counts in the end. It's all we have, whether we accept it or not. If people aren't reading your columns, it's not your fault. It's theirs.
16
Yes, Nicholas, I read this essay through and through. First, I have to admit that your title My Biggest Duds piqued my curiosity. That being said, however, I do always read your columns. And this leads me to some thoughts. Are many of us magnetically drawn to a piece referring to Trump's latest insane, bizarre act or tweet? My heavens, yes! But speaking for myself, it has little to do with gossip, and everything to do with fear and anxiety. This is where you come in. Like it or not our "community" is global. Your reporting and commentaries allow us to see the big picture, so to speak. It makes us realize that although we have to constantly fight to maintain our democratic rights, we still actually have a democracy. We do have the poor, the suppressed, the oppressed, yet we do have the means and abilities to rectify these social ills. Not so in many/most of the countries you write about. We have a moral responsibility to feed those starving children in Yemen, Syria, and like regions. We have a moral responsibility to speak and act in behalf of human rights throughout this imperfect world of ours. The fact is we can do it all...take on Trump and his minions AND open our pocketbooks and hearts to millions who are far worse off than we can imagine. Thank you, Mr. Kristof, for your superb journalism, and Happy Holidays, too.
12
I tried to make it through this column, but ultimately couldn't remain interested...
Just kidding. I think we're obsessed here, recently, with the antics of our criminal president and our rabid right wing. It is, nevertheless, important to keep an eye on injustice and repression happening elsewhere in the world in anticipation of the day we may, once again, be able to do something about it.
11
Kristof lifts the lid a little on the NYT's story selection, management, and promotion policies. The role of digital metrics seriously influencing news coverage at the New York Times is hugely important and needs to be discussed more. One can see the impact this policy has. Some days almost every headline in the digital NYT has a Trump mention to draw angry eyeballs. However, that said the NYT clearly uses other metrics than eyeballs captured in determining it's selection placement and promotion of stories. Furthering perceived US geopolitical interests by getting the right narratives out to the NYT readership is another key and much under-discussed goal. I don't think large numbers of readers flock to the endless stream of bad China stories but they do skim over the headlines which is often the point in getting the narrative across regardless of a not wholly engaged readership. They still come away with the essential "bad China" narrative. So here the NYT balances a need for eyeballs with promoting narratives that support US geopolitical interests. This is actually good news for Kristof re his Africa coverage as China's rising influence in that region has redirected US interest in that continent and to the extent, Kristof can produced a "bad China in Africa" story it will be perceived as a win-win.
5
Nicholas, I always appreciate you, even when I don't read your work. My family's long time subscriptions to the Times are justified by the fact that the paper invests in these less "popular" stories, even when our attention is not directly on them.
9
Mr. Kristof,
I have a different opinion of your duds - I think the most regrettable columns were ones that were most read and most influential. I'm thinking about your crusade, in the anti-human trafficking cause, against backpage.com and other such channels used by independent sex workers to transact their business safely and securely.
3
I confess: I'm one of the many who skipped your international columns. The reason: I know if I read it, I'll feel angry, sad, hopeless, about the injustice and misery of the human conditions you were reporting. I also know even I read it, nothing will change; there is nothing I can do to alter the trajectory. And those thoughts will further darken my perspective of the world we live in.
I do follow your advice on holiday giving. I donated and took advantage of my employer's generous donation match program. That's all I did.
And I'm a subscriber of the NYT.
11
I find I do best when I am reminded frequently. So I just signed up for your newletter and I look forward to clicking through and learning more. It is far too easy to fall into old habits and reading ever more about the current political situation in the US just reinforces what I already believe and causes me to grind my teeth more at night. I may actually have begun to grind them during the day? Thanks for the swift kick. I'm looking forward to my first issue of the newsletter!
3
I just read Mr. Krtistof's September article about the war in Yemen. Very sad and well written. It is inconceivable that millions of starving Yemeni people can be collateral damage in what is essentially a struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
When the constant drumbeat of heinous acts and crimes by Trump finally results in his removal from office I for one will not spend one second reading about him and his motley crew. Better to learn about where change can be created to help people and more importantly to participate in that change. Mr. Kristof, don't judge your success by clicks alone; your work has great value.
Happy holidays.
6
The issues that Nicolas Kristof travels so far to understand and reports about so eloquently are often hard to read. The solutions seem unreachable, even though he always has good ideas about how to make things better.
But things do get better and not always in ways we expect. The Chinese killed off tens of millions in the 1950s by famine, an unintended consequence of their Great Leap Forward.
But since Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s, they have lifted a billion people from poverty, an unprecedented achievement. (For the numerically challenged, a billion is three times the entire US population). We don't tell our kids to eat their dinner because there are starving children in China.
Since the Taliban was forced out of Afghanistan, the child mortality rate has dropped by more than 80%. The Taliban was clearly not good for women and children.
I think Nicolas Kristof has one particular theme that stands out for me and that is the empowerment of women, as he writes about in "Half The Sky". This is a massive global trend that has much promise for every part of our global community.
Keep writing about that!
5
I would have sworn that your most skipped articles were the "wonkish" ones. Maybe you ignored them as "duds" because they were designed to have particularly academic value? I appreciate the intellectual approach to matters that others treat as a coin flip, but I'm surprised such in-depth high level analyses of economics ranked higher than the empathetic pieces about persecuted populations.
3
Mr. Kristof, I recall reading all of your "duds" with the exception of one of the Cooper columns.
While your columns on human rights abuses are hardly a feel-good respite from the daily Trump Watch, they are interesting, educational and a necessary reminder that informed citzenship in a global world requires more than keeping up with the latest Trumpian outrage.
Plus you are a fine writer. Thank you.
-LT (Not Nick's Mom. Really)
31
This defines dud as what is not popular.
The columns were not mistaken. They were not bad predictions. They just didn't get clicks.
Is that what the "news" and "opinion" has come to now? Say only what this particular audience wants to hear?
An echo chamber is not a news room, nor a worthy opinion column.
What if we need to hear what we don't expect? You know, like grown ups.
19
@Mark Thomason -- "particularly if they aren’t about issues in the news"
That is self defeating. They are not in the news because they are not read, and they are not read because they have not been in the news.
If people like to read more about what has already interested them, then they need to hear it in the first place.
4
I hope the NYT doesn't operate on clicks alone. We need voices like yours to bring light to the very important stories you cover.
I don't always read your column and often get caught up in the frenzy of the latest breaking news or tweet storm. However, your columns are often burrowed into my psyche, with the effect of changing how I think about issues, the world, the people around me, and my own daily actions.
Keep doing what you do, Mr. Kristof. You are highly valued!
36
These columns, and many more, were duds because the spectacle of a rich comfortable American writing about misery in other parts of the world, and collecting speaking fees for speaking about misery in other parts of the world, doesn't count as heroic, self-sacrificing or effectual.
Just another "brand" in a sea of them... When this page changes the world a whit or an inch for the better, then perhaps more will take notice.
2
@jrd There is incredible heroism in risking life and limb to report on truth - of which there is considerable shortage these days. And even more praise is due when results are not immediately evident.
36
@jrd That was harsh, mr. jrd. Kristof and his wife always report what they observe--mostly in person. They risk their lives to tell their stories. The world needs voices like theirs, otherwise any news outlet would become as vacuous and oblivious as most Americans.
@jrd
Your viewpoint is extremely cynical. Where is it that Kristof promotes himself as a hero or self-sacrificing? I read passion and compassion in his writing.
His chosen profession is to report, and the first step in solving a problem is recognizing that it exists. I think he does a pretty good job on that score... the fact that so many are too narcissistic to care about people in far flung places doesn't mean it's better to not bother mentioning them at all.
With all due respect sir, your columns are read start to finish by many and respected by even more. Whether or not they achieve your goals, they still ring home with so many of us in ways you may not be able to imagine. Thank you sir, please write as many "duds" as you possibly can.
44
I hear you!
Food for thought: So often I read something and am filled with a sense of helplessness, as in "nothing I do can impact this."
Seriously: i was SO angry about the way the Wisconsin governor, on his way out, hobbling the power of the incoming Governor. I was SO angry this could happen so easily in America! SO I got filled with that sense of "what can I do" when I thought "well at least I can write to my Senators." Which I did. One did not even reply (republican). The other replied that he deals with Ohio things only.
Well, if that's the deal wtih things within the USA, imagine our sense of helplessness for international things.
Wisconsin voters, you should be protesting LOUDLY
28
Nicholas, you are the only journalist that I actually follow and subscribe to via e-mail. I have really appreciated and enjoyed your coverage of North Korea and the atrocities occurring in Myanmar. Thank you for your well-informed, passionate journalism! You can't win 'em all :)
10
Mr. Kristof writes that "[a] common thread . . . is that international columns don’t get much of an audience." True, and supported by the appearance of the word "global" six times in the column. I don't mean for a moment to imply that Mr. Kristof is trying to be euphemistic, but I would like to suggest that "skin pigmentation" would be truer to the mark.
It seems likely that the majority of Times readers, including me, are Caucasian. For those who, like me, believe that humans are inherently (that is, genetically predisposed to be) tribalistic, it makes sense that a majority of Times readers would be click-averse to material about brown, black and otherwise racially non-Caucasian people. I am embarrassed to say that I recognize such biases in myself, for example when encountering nonwhite faces.
Finding ways to manage humanity's inner demons must certainly be our foremost struggle -- were it not for the impending, final, planetary die-off, which will make pretty well everything irrelevant.
9
What is the use of tons and tons articles written about Trump day in and day out in this paper.
You shouldn’t feel disheartened but continue to write more such columns so that at least there sure will be some people who read them not only in America but also across globe and then come to know as to what’s happening outside one’s comfort zone. Please keep up the good work.
Happy Holidays to you, Times management and all readers.
8
@Sivaram Pochiraju,
The ton of lost 'Trump forests' has become a reflection of Us in America, looking into a void, and holding on strong in the face of this ebbing political and social tsunami, where the aftermath awaits our nation.
Thank you for your dedication and sense of responsibility in using your column to make a difference in the world.
32
Re your column on students in CAR....
There is no country in the world that is more off the general public radar than the Central African Republic. "The what?" I am often asked when I mention it. "Never heard of it" or, the best (worst), "Where is it?" From my personal experience, fine people exploited and abused mostly by their own. My favourite anecdote: being told by the then prime minister "The minister of Finance told me this morning that the country has $10 000 in the bank". This as my client, a corporation wanting to invest in oil/gas exploration in CAR, was proposing to pay 5 years of fees and taxes IN ADVANCE...to the proper ministry. It was made clear that a personal payment to the President would be more productive. Sad, as DT would say.
11
This makes me very sad. It is certainly no reflection on your writing or the topics you chose, but rather an indictment on the readers in this nation that are largely focused on issues that affect them directly. I don't suppose that the "posts" of the prophet Jeremiah were too popular in his day, but we need to be alerted to the difficult things going on in the world, and especially to how the US contributes to the sufferings of others, such as innocent children in Yemen. Keep up the good work. We need prophetic voices.
30
Interestingly, I know that I read several of your ‘only mom’ articles, but I’m not your mom.
Anyway, maybe one problem is that people in this country couldn’t locate any of these places on a map. So why would they care about it. They just don’t see how it relates to them, even though, in too many ways, this country is headed in the same direction.
13
Nicholas Kristof - I almost bow my head when I say your name. You've not only been "the source" for news that's overlooked elsewhere, but my husband and I have long found you to be the conscience of the news. I find it so easy to be overcome by most world and national events; your reporting seems to give me a more positive, even constructive, understanding. I often share the wealth as well, either by directly referring others to one of your pieces or by re-posting it on Facebook. In fact, each of the "duds" you described was very familiar to me! More than recognizable, they were memorable.
There's no accounting for numbers sometimes, but please be assured that the seeds you sow, with what I acknowledge to be extraordinary effort at times, DO take root and bear fruit. And for that I ask God's blessings on you and I thank you.
112
@Roseanne Cleary
Roseanne,You said it better than anyone.Mr. Kristof at least makes my pea sized heart a little larger.He is also the main reason my husband and I donate to Drs.without Boarders.
5
@Roseanne Cleary
Roseanne,You said it better than anyone.Mr. Kristof at least makes my pea sized heart a little larger.He is also the main reason my husband and I donate to Drs without Borders
1
Nick, without you putting a human face on these tragedies world wide, we wouldn't have nearly the same sense of them. People want to read about the political posturing in Washington and Riyadh over Yemen, but none of it is important or urgent until we understand life on the ground. Thank you!
15
Mr. Kristof, I usually read your columns, and I comment once in a while. I think you are well out in front of the rest of us in seeing the problems that the world will have to deal with eventually, thanks to your constant traveling, and I thank you for it.
Here in the US, we are focused on news and comments about relatively local issues, such as the utter corruption of our own government, and the astounding handover of the nation's wealth to the already wealthy, under Trump.
But you remind us over and over that the world can't be viewed one country at a time, through your personal accounts from all over the earth. You remind us that we're either going to decide humanity's course globally, or we're going to continue to let countries vie for advantage at the expense of long term survival.
I want to urge you to focus in 2019 on Global Warming, in the way that you usually do -- from local perspectives around the earth, to help show us the way to arrive at consensus. I think we need the help of all journalists to make us aware of the threat we are facing, and the need to take very strong actions collectively to improve the prospects of our survival.
No matter how horrible we find abuse of human rights, religious persecution, racism, etc, they are only concepts if humanity does not survive.
45
I make myself read all your columns because I have learned that what you report on is always important. Your perspective and the closeup things you report enhance and broaden my thinking even about stories/events that get other coverage in the Times or elsewhere.
You are needed and valued, so don't stop or change what you are doing! May the holidays be warm and happy for you and your family in these very difficult times. You need a pause, too!
142
@bse The key words in this comment are "I make myself read all your columns...". I give you credit, because I don't. My "excuse" is that to me Trump and climate change are such enormous problems that little else matters if they're not solved. If that sounds like a lame excuse to ignore other problems that people face in the world, that's because it is. I'll try to do better.
5
Nicholas Kristof,
I think the best thing about your columns (after the generally high quality of the writing and the analysis, and the incisive focus on some tough issues that really cry out for in-depth journalistic attention) is that most of the time you pick topics that you care about, that you think are socially important, and that you can explain in perhaps thousand or 1500 words why you think they are important.
The only set of real serial "duds" in recent years, I would say, were those directly related to the 2016 presidential campaign. Those columns of yours were -at least in some cases- not very convincing, not just in their own right, but more importantly because they seemed out of character for you, and perhaps most importantly because they seemed to be not what you really would have preferred to talk about.
In any case, thanks for the "duds" that weren't really duds, and even more so for the much larger number that weren't even "duds."
10
I always enjoy your columns, Mr. Kristof. You bring a humane view into a world of chaos, allowing each of us to reflect on our own participation in its goodness and its cruelty.
And regarding the articles ending up at the bottom of the bird cage, I only save the Trump articles for that purpose.
95
Normally I can't stand the stuff you write about, but I was pleasantly surprised by all of these. I remember reading a couple when they came out and thinking "Yep, precisely." without even reading the by-line. I think it's a sign of these crazy political times that if you don't write something supremely insulting or otherwise un-polarized, it doesn't show up on peoples radar.
I say the more professional the journalism, including opinion pieces, the better. We need more voices pushing for human rights around the world, education for all, and peace on earth.
Also, good will towards everyone. It's enough to want us all to succeed, we don't need the "others" to lose all the time.
6
Nick, you are the light in the darkness. Please don't stop caring about the world. I love your work and wish I were young enough to go with you to the places you go.
65
Yet, these article were some of your best. We shouldn't equate popularity and readership numbers with quality or relevance to our lives.
90
@Knud Hansen
But, sadly some would say, our for-profit news system results in exactly this outcome.
PBS was, at one time, an antidote to this, but they, like so much else (the fairness doctrine) have been eviserated by the right and the rest of us have pretty much taken it with little or no protest.
6
Nicholas. I read all your columns, you cover such important issues so well, keep on doing what you are doing.
You are one of my heroes.
37
Chin up!
It seems to many of us that democracy, and our country are in imminent danger, close to home.
We have difficulty focusing beyond our own patch and I'm not certain we are wrong.
We'll be back. Really
14
I are. Thanks for your good writing and I look forward to more!
2
I used to be interested in international affairs and foreign reporting. Not so much any more. The news about our country is so foreboding that I am focused on news about the United States. Even so, I have pretty much cut back on that. I would rather read novels by authors like Charles Dickens, who create fictional worlds that absorb me.
1
Of all the columnists I read, and I read all his columns, Nicholas Kristof is my favorite. In fact there is a bit of hero worship going on here.
He covers places and subjects that should make us uncomfortable and does it with charm and sympathy and his distinctive easy style.
I grew up in Africa so I can tell he takes a lot of risks to get his stories. He personifies great journalism!
81
Thanks for all of your columns. I read them because I know they will make me think about things I often would rather not face. They often move me to take action, too. So, I hope you can consider that a win.
70
Dear Mr. Kristoff,
Like most Times readers, I value your hard work, and you keep us informed of stories that need to be told. I thought that the video story you did on North Korea was your best! I even recommended it to one of my research writing students for his essay on authoritarian regimes and he used it in his essay.
I'm pretty sure that I read a few of the essays you claim were read only by your mom, but I also know that I had skipped many because there have been days when I just couldn't bear to be confronted with more horrific news, especially because I have felt helpless--What could/can I do to help those suffering in Yemen or elsewhere in the world? I am among the working poor, so I cannot help financially. I do my best to spread this news (when I have read it) to my college students in hopes that they will be inspired to write stories like you, or figure out a way to stop or prevent more suffering.
I hope to read more of your stories in 2019!
Happy holidays!
177
@Michelle, I know it can be hard to absorb so much pain from the world, but I think it’s dangerous to shut it out. Even on bad days. A highly educated (Harvard, Oxbridge), professional woman I know told me she does not read, watch or listen to the news because she can’t hear about people suffering. That is frightening.
17
@Michelle
Please keep up your reporting. It is matchless!
2