Headline, April 22 2025/ PAMELA PAUL : ''' BEST HONOURS BEST '''

PAMELA PAUL : 

''' BEST HONOURS BEST '''

THE WORLD STUDENTS SOCIETY - the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student in the world, - rises, to give Pamela Paul a standing ovation.

!WOW! thanks her for her splendid work which helped all of us learn. It got us all to think hard, very hard. '' Thank You, Pamela Paul! ''

MY FAREWELL COLUMN : This is my final column for The Times. In the memo I wrote three years ago when applying for this job after 11 years at The Times Book Review, I vowed '' to write to Times readers rather than to Twitter or to Slack.''

I knew my positions, fundamentally liberal but when at odds with what had become illiberal progressive dogma, would ruffle feathers, but as I explained :

'' I want to write about that vast center / liberal space and to address what people really think and believe but are often too afraid to say,''

I also stipulated that I could do this job, only if I quit Twitter, which had then become a forum that could lead journalists to mistake the loudest voices for the most legitimate or to temper their positions so as to avoid social media blowback.

The list of social media vortexes today includes not only Twitter's successor, X but also Bluesky, Threads, Reddit and countless other online forums.

I did not want my positions to be unduly guided by what others might think, be they friends or strangers, office colleagues or online trolls, activists organizations or institutional powers.

And the lure of affirmation can be just as potent as the fear of attack.

I wasn't looking to be loved or even liked. I had family and friends for that. I wanted to write what I believed to be the truth, based on facts and guided by fairness, but never driven by fear.

That wasn't because I was insensitive to other people or enjoyed getting death threats but because I believed in the principles Adolph S. Ochs laid out on assuming control of The Times in 1896 :

'' To give the news impartiality, without fear or favor, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved '' and to '' invite intelligent discussions from all shades of opinion.'' Readers' respect for those values was -and is - more important to me than readers' agreement with any of my opinions.

I couldn't follow that approach if I were looking over my shoulder, checking my feed or worrying how anyone would react..

As a columnist, I covered a wide range of subjects, including academic freedom, culture, languages, women's rights, higher education, science and health, and politics, including several columns dedicated to how the Democratic Party had lost its way.

But the reporting I'm most proud of is when I used my voice to stand up for people whose lives or work had come under attack, whether they were public figures or were dragged into the public eye because they dared to speak or act in ways that unjustly elicited professional or social condemnation.

In a world in which too many people are inclined to think of politics and morality as team sports, one side good and the other side evil, nuanced stories that complicate facile narratives demand to be told.

Several years ago, The Times ran a campaign with the tagline : '' The truth is hard.''

I will end with a message of gratitude to all my readers. I have truly appreciated the responses, both supportive and critical. I've gotten from so many of you.

My hope is that even when my arguments haven't persuaded you, they led you to ask questions or helped you arrive at your own answers to complex problems.

It is only when we ask tough questions, including of ourselves, that we arrive at a full picture of what's going on. And often, that's when we discover what we truly believe.

Though I am leaving The Times, I will not be leaving behind these principles in my work as a journalist. Readers depend on our telling the truth more than ever.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Great Writers, Humans and Journalists, who brought out the best in all of us, continues. The World Students Society Prays for and wishes Pamela Paul the very best.

With respectful dedication to The Global Founder Framers of !WOW! - for every subject in the world - and then Leaders, Grandparents, Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers.

See You all prepare for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - The Voice Of The Voiceless