In a recent op-ed, former New York Times opinion writer Bari Weiss criticized American culture for self-silencing young writers due to fear of being shamed if they are not woke enough
March 3, 2021
Former New York Times top COVID-19 reporter Donald McNeil Jr. publicly responded to his ouster in early February following a report from The Daily Beast accusing him of making “racist and sexist remarks.” Notably, the accusations include using the n-word in a discussion about why not to say it on a 2019 student trip he helped guide through a Times partnership program. He believes the Daily Beast report to be a leak from inside the newsroom.
In a four-part series on Medium, McNeil, who was employed by the Times from 1976 until 2021, explains the story behind the incident as well as the internal fallout at the Times following the publication of the two-year-old story. While McNeil admits that he can be touchy and blunt, he clears up how a five-word response to a Washington Post reporter about the situation was misconstrued, causing him to take matters into his own hands and not give the privilege to a “jackal” journalist.
Washington Free Beacon
Times executive editor Dean Baquet said privately McNeil wasn’t a racist The New York Times / Getty Images
Former
New York Times reporter Donald McNeil says he was pushed out of the paper by Dean Baquet, the
Times’s executive editor, even though Baquet conceded that the allegations against McNeil were baseless.
Baquet allegedly told McNeil, I know you’re not a racist, but encouraged him to resign anyway because he had lost the newsroom. We’re not firing you, Baquet said. We’re asking you to consider resigning. McNeil, whose work on the coronavirus pandemic is being considered for a Pulitzer Prize, recounted the incident in a
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Ousted NY Times Reporter Donald McNeil Jr. Speaks Out: ‘I’ve Been a Jackal Circled by Jackals’
In the first of a series of four Medium posts explaining his ouster, McNeil denies that he’s an “asshole” at least most of the timeLindsey Ellefson | March 1, 2021 @ 7:45 AM Last Updated: March 1, 2021 @ 8:10 AM
Via C-Span
Former New York Times reporter Donald McNeil Jr. spoke out about his ouster on Monday, the first day of his official separation from the paper where he worked since the 1970s.
He described the sharp-edged “jackal” nature of journalists and said he had been surprised to be subjected to the same vigorous process of inquiry that journalists apply to others. “Since January 28, I’ve been a jackal circled by jackals,” McNeil wrote in the first of four planned Medium posts.
Donald G McNeil vows to dish details on his ouster from N Y Times amid cancel culture climate washingtontimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtontimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.