The New York Times non-apology, and the end of lazy marketing language
elezea.com
elezea.com
I'm sure many people would think that the New York Times speaking to them in a conversational tone is inappropriate and unprofessional.
I doubt the author consciously thought: "i'm going to make this apology less effective," so who cares if the language didn't exactly resonate with you or the OP? I don't think it was malicious or disingenuous; if anything, the NYT needs to hire better copywriters, so their emails don't get dissected as frequently.