Steven Yaccino

NYT Frets as GOP States Burden Blacks Based on 'Unfounded' Vote Fraud Fear
By Clay Waters | March 30, 2014 | 10:27 AM EDT

Sunday's New York Times was troubled by attempts by Republican state leaders to impose uniformity in voting rules and predictably made it a racial matter in "New G.O.P. Bid to Limit Voting in Swing States."

According to the front-page story, after a Supreme Court ruling last year loosened restrictions, "swing states under Republican control are embracing significant new electoral restrictions on registering and voting," which "shake up fundamental components of state election systems." Reporters Steven Yaccino and Lizette Alvarez Pivotal fretted that "Republicans in Ohio and Wisconsin this winter pushed through measures limiting the time polls are open, in particular cutting into weekend voting favored by low-income voters and blacks, who sometimes caravan from churches to polls on the Sunday before election."

NYT's Conservative vs. Liberal Contrast: 'Clashes Over Curbs on Labor' vs. 'New Freedoms in Washington'
By Clay Waters | December 7, 2012 | 2:21 PM EST

On Friday, New York Times reporters Steven Yaccino and Monica Davey sourly greeted landmark conservative right-to-work legislation from Michigan in "Bills Placing Limits on Unions Advance in Michigan Legislature," The paper ran four paragraphs of quotes from the losing side, compared to three from the winners.

By comparison, the introduction of two liberal laws in Washington State, on gay marriage and marijuana legalization, were welcomed under the headline: "Two Laws Are Welcomed After Midnight in Seattle," with a single paragraph of dissent at the end. Legal reporter Charlie Savage did file a separate story on the Obama administration weighing legal action against Washington State and Colorado, but the issues there were technical and the sparse quotes were legalistic and neutral.

NY Times Again Goes After Personal Finances of Tea Party Favorite
By Clay Waters | October 19, 2011 | 2:06 PM EDT

New York Times reporters Jennifer Steinhauer and Steven Yaccino unfurled a hit piece (accompanied by a severely unflattering photo) on Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois, conservative freshman congressman and Tea Party favorite, on the front of Tuesday’s National section: “G.O.P.’s Freshman’s Fiscal Message Clashes With His Finances.” It’s not the first time the paper has gone after a Tea Party conservative on such personal terms.