The New York Times Illustration Pool

One of my "bucket list" items is to someday get an illustration published in the NY Times (before they go out of business). To this end, I have sent multiple illustration postcards to the various Art Directors there (to no avail). So if someone could please take a moment to explain to me why they continue to use illustrators like this, I'd really appreciate it, as I cannot look at this "linework" without getting nauseous.