The issue wasn’t whether it would be a “tough story”. Kantor’s email is completely at odds with the story that ran.

As for Bo Olson, how could the Times have “known his status was contested” when they didn’t bother asking?

Amazon 1, Baquet 0

p.s. Though not mentioned here, the Bezos story about getting his grandma to quit smoking was truncated to convey the very opposite of his message. That’s not journalism. http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/was-portrayal-of-amazons-brutal-workplace-on-target/?_r=0