shitting on the NYT is itself a fandom

I woke up this morning to Thom having shared That NYT Article in group chat:

Thom:

The NYT on copyright in fanfic.  

me:

Oh god, why did I have to look at my phone when I got up to go to the bathroom? As I teach you about fandom, I had definitely been avoiding ever bringing up omegaverse. And also, my understanding (I haven't actually read the article, but plenty of people I know have) is that it's more about a bunch of copyright/trademark bullshit in romance novel land that's not even all that new than it is about fanfic per se.  

See also this fact-check from a friend about fanfic: https://jadelennox.dreamwidth.org/567873.html  

Thom:

I mean, I’m not gonna _read_ omegaverse stuff. And yeah, I wasn’t under the impression that this was particularly new.  

It’s the NYT, after all.  

Which, I mean, I love the NYT, but I don’t expect them to be fully up-to-speed on fanfic.  

me:

I mean, I decidedly do not love the NYT -- on account of them employing Bret Stephens and similar -- but fair point.  

Thom:

/me awkwardly goes to ddg Bret Stephens  

me:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bret_Stephens#Controversy  

Thom:

Yeah, fair.  

me:

I mean, I'm also not a fan of David Brooks or Nick Kristof, but Bret "I complained to the provost about the fact that a faculty member insulted me on Twitter & also I'm maybe a eugenicist (at best I'm a careless researcher)" Stephens is a particularly egregious "why do shitty white dudes with shitty opinions get platforms?"  

Oh god, why are NYT columnists so fucking fragile? And lacking in understanding about how literally everything works? https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/09/it-didnt-start-with-the-bedbugs.html  

As I'm continuing to read this Slate article, I am reminded that I had until this moment successfully forgotten about the existence of Maureen Dowd.  

Thom:

[re: "...why do shitty white dudes with shitty opinions get platforms?"]
Yeah. My gut response was definitely Mediocre White Guy Welfare.  

[re: "Oh god..."]
This whole state of affairs requires an 🙄 emoji. I guess the NYT opinion columnists get paid for quantity and not quality. 😢

me, a little later:

Other reasons I am not a fan of the NYT:

justsayxtian recently Tweeted, "The New York Times should hire me to write a weekly article titled "Jewish Food, Ruined". They're doing a pretty decent job through ignorance, but if they let me take the reins I bet I could really fuck some recipes up."

Most recent context, this Tweet.