I wrote about a paper that was rejected from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) because it was a poor fit with the journal. This rejection was treated as a scandal in the NYT and Wall St. Journal, revealing much about how certain anti-woke arguments gain traction via the opinion pages, regardless of their merits.
https://donmoynihan.substack.com/p/pamela-paul-and-pnas-envy
Pamela Paul and PNAS Envy

The self-appointed defenders of academic merit can't persuade their peers, but have friends in high places

Can We Still Govern?
Every week there are a bunch of politicians promising to gut higher education, and every week there are columnists who think of themselves of defending speech or merit who either ignore them, or support their cause.