Why would a newspaper publish this? What could their motivations be? Sometimes I feel like they are lampooning themselves in order to achieve the opposite effec

Why would a newspaper publish this? What could their motivations be? Sometimes I feel like they are lampooning themselves in order to achieve the opposite effect. Given that the last article I read here about the NYT was a former writer describing it as a propaganda machine and ideological hell to work for, I wonder if this is an act of malicious compliance.