BIAS ALERT: Conservative publisher Regnery cuts ties with the New York Times over best-seller lists
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The New York Times is coming under fire for alleged bias in its best-seller list. (Reuters)
A major conservative publisher is cutting ties with the New York Times after claiming “years of bias” in the paper’s closely-watched best-sellers list.
Regnery, which publishes authors such as Ann Coulter, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham and President Donald Trump, is displeased that Dinesh D'Souza's book “The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left,” was only No. 7 on the Times’ latest best-sellers list even though a different organization that tracks book sales ranked it at No. 1.
“I ask you to consider this: We are often told it’s foolish to bite the hand that feeds you,” Marji Ross, president and publisher of Regnery, said in a letter to its authors. “I say it’s just as foolish to feed the hand that bites you.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}However, a spokesman for the Times noted that conservative authors have frequently ranked high and in big numbers on its best-sellers list.
“Our goal is that the lists reflect authentic best sellers,” Times spokesman Jordan Cohen said. “The political views of authors have no bearing on our rankings, and the notion that we would manipulate the lists to exclude books for political reasons is simply ludicrous.”
The publishing company’s writers can no longer claim to be “New York Times best-selling” authors.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Book sales are an inexact science. Nielsen BookScan, the measurement that Regnery cites as ranking its books higher, counts print sales in stores representing about 85 percent of the market. The Times says its list is based on surveys of thousands of booksellers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.