The New York Times confirmed that the newspaper investigated and ‘disciplined’ the high-profile public health and Covid-19 reporter after using racial barriers in 2019 during a trip with high school students.
Donald McNeil Jr., a 45-year veteran of the newspaper and its chief reporter on the coronavirus pandemic, has been accused by a number of students of using the N-word during an educational trip to Peru approved by the Times is. The reporter also suggested that he does not believe in white privilege and uses stereotypes about black teens, according to the complaints reported by the Daily Beast.
Six students or parents complained to the paper after the trip, which was part of the Times’ “student travel” program, in which participation usually costs more than $ 5,000.
The Times confirmed on Thursday that McNeil had used ‘racist language’ during the trip in a statement issued to reporters.
“In 2019, Donald McNeil Jr. participated as an expert in a Student Journeys,” the statement read. ‘We then took note of complaints from some students on the trip about certain statements Donald made during the trip.
“We conducted a thorough investigation and disciplined Donald for statements and language that were inappropriate and inconsistent with our values,” the statement continued. ‘We found that he used bad judgment by repeating a racist failure in the context of a conversation about racist language. In addition, we apologized to the students who participated in the trip. ”
The newspaper did not provide further details on how McNeil was disciplined.
Following the Daily Beast report, New York Times editor Dean Baquet sent an email to staff informing them that he was ‘furious’ about the comments and that he would fire the reporter when he first heard the complaints. But after the investigation, the editor “came to the conclusion that his remarks were offensive and that he showed extremely poor judgment, but that it did not seem to me that his intentions were hateful or malicious”.
His email continued: ‘I believe that in such cases people should be told that they were wrong and given another chance. He was formally disciplined. He did not pass. ”