Political Science and Public Affairs

If you are a new subscriber to NYT or an existing subscriber without an active NYT subscription, you will need to access the link below to get started.

1. Go to access link listed above
2. Search for and select “Western Carolina University – Cullowhee, NC”
3. You will be directed to the NYT registration page
4. Click “Create Account” and complete fields; you must use your @edu email
5. Verify your account (you will receive a confirmation email)*

*Confirmation emails may be delayed 10-15 minutes and may be routed to your spam folder. You must click the link in this email to complete the registration.

A YouTube tutorial on how to activate your complimentary access can be located below.

If you are an EXISTING subscriber WITHOUT an active NYT subscription

1. Go to the access link listed above
2. Click on “Already have an account” “Log in” (found below “Create an Account”)
3. Input your email address and the same password created for your previous account

If you are an EXISTING subscriber with an ACTIVE PAID NYT subscription

Existing subscribers with active paid NYT subscriptions must cancel personal subscriptions to take advantage of the access provided by Hunter Library. Please connect with a chat agent on NYTimes.com or call 800-698-4637 to cancel an active paid subscription.

After you have cancelled your active paid subscription, follow the directions for EXISTING subscriber WITHOUT an active NYT subscription to claim your complimentary subscription.

Students will have access until 12/31 of the graduation year selected during registration.

Faculty and staff will need to re-authenticate using the access link above every 4 years.

1. Click on “Already have an account” “Log in”
2. Input your email address and password that you registered with
3. You will be directed to a confirmation page confirming that your access has been reactivated.

Do I get the puzzles too? 

Sorry, NYT Games and NYT Cooking are not included. You will have to pay to add them. 

What if I already subscribe to NYTimes.com? 

Instructions are here.

Is the NY Times scholarly? 

No. News sources are not scholarly. Scientific and other disciplinary research is conducted by scholars and takes time to gather, write, and undergo peer review by other experts. Scholarly research is complex and does not lend itself to brief news articles. Sometimes news sources report on published scholarly studies and can refer you to the complete information. In the meantime, journalists gather the facts at hand, speak with experts, and follow the research as it becomes available. You can find scholarly articles in the library's OneSearch (limit to peer-reviewed) or other research databases. 

Is the NY Times a biased source? 

Bias-check sites such as AllSides and Ad Fontes describe The New York Times as left-leaning and "skews left," respectively. Ad Fontes, which also evaluates factual credibility and analysis, rates the Times as a highly reliable source. Some news sources such as the Wall Street Journal, to which the library also has access, are listed as skewing right. Bias-check sites take various things into account, including audience, editorial boards, and public perception. We recommend getting your news from various credible sources and making sure you know when you are reading opinion articles vs. news information. The news sources we recommend, including The New York Times, follow a code of ethics and are committed to factual reporting.