Progressives are 6% of the population: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/11/09/progressive-.... The NYT could be very left leaning and still get criticism from a small percentage of the population that’s even further left.

One example: the NYT fired its opinion page editor for publishing an article by Tom Cotton calling to suppress the George Floyd riots with the National Guard. For context, calling in the Maryland National Guard to stop the Freddie Gray riots was one of the most popular things Larry Hogan ever did in that blue state. Cotton’s opinion was squarely in the mainstream, and by firing Bennett the NYT revealed itself to be quite far to the left.

Another example is anything touching on affirmative action. Americans oppose taking race into account in hiring to increase diversity by a 3:1 margin. It’s an extremely unpopular and out-of-the-mainstream position. But the NYT engages in such hiring practices. And when you read the NYT’s coverage of such issues, including the supreme court’s decision in SFFA, it’s clear where the paper’s bias lies.

Your link is to “progressive left”, a subcategory that makes your claim of 6% extremely misleading. A much broader picture can be seen at https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/political-...

The other subcategories on the left are “establishment liberals,” “democratic mainstays,” and “outsider left.” Those other categories include my dad, who votes Democrat but thinks CNN is “Democrat propaganda.” Then there’s the 42% of democrats who are even further to the right and watch Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/media/fox-news-democrats-key-demo. None of those folks are saying the NYT is too far to the right.

The folks who got Bennett fired were indeed part of a very small minority of the left, which doesn’t even carry a majority within mainstream left-leaning organizations like the NYT. They’re just effective at weaponizing rhetoric to beat establishment liberals into submission.