Tag: Reporter

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Peter de Vries, Dutch Crime Reporter, Dies After Being Shot

Peter de Vries, Dutch Crime Reporter, Dies After Being Shot

AMSTERDAM — A Dutch crime reporter who was shot in the head in a brazen attack in central Amsterdam last week as he was leaving a television studio, died of his wounds on Thursday, his family said in a statement. The reporter, Peter R. de Vries, was 64.

“Peter has fought until the end, but has been unable to win this battle,” the statement, carried by the Dutch broadcast news service RTL Nieuws, said. “We are indescribably proud of him and at the same time inconsolable.”

Mr. de Vries, a well-known public figure in the Netherlands, was shot on the evening of July 6 by an unknown assailant. The attack led to broad condemnation in the country, where drug related crime and shootings have steadily increased over the last decade. European leaders have condemned the shooting, which raised questions about protections for journalists.

The police arrested two men last week in connection with the attack after stopping them in a car on a nearby highway. The police identified the suspects as a 35-year-old Polish citizen and a 21-year-old from Rotterdam. The police have said they believe the younger man was the gunman

Both suspects appeared in court in Amsterdam on Friday and they remain in custody.

Ferd Grapperhaus, the Dutch justice minister, called Mr. de Vries a “brave man” and said his death was “nothing less than a direct attack on our society.”

Mr. de Vries, who had hosted a televised crime show for nearly two decades and has long been known in the Netherlands for solving cold cases, had said he regularly received death threats.

The television show on which Mr. de Vries appeared before he was shot last week did not air last Friday, after threats from criminals who said they wanted to target the studio using automatic weapons or a rocket launcher, according to Dutch news media. The show has resumed its daily episodes, but will be recorded elsewhere, the network reported.

Mr. de Vries began his journalism career in 1978 at De Telegraaf, a popular Dutch newspaper. A decade later, he published a book on the kidnapping of the beer magnate Freddy Heineken. He covered many high-profile cases, including the 2005 disappearance of an Alabama teenager, Natalee Holloway, in Aruba, a Caribbean island that is part of the Netherlands; and a decades-long investigation into the rape and murder of an 11-year-old boy, Nicky Verstappen.

His television show, “Peter R. de Vries, Crime Reporter,” which began in 1995 and aired for 17 years, was his real breakthrough.

Most recently, Mr. de Vries had set up a foundation in the hopes of solving the 1993 disappearance of Tanja Groen, a young woman who vanished on her way home from a party. On Tuesday, Dutch public television aired a special program where viewers donated hundreds of thousands of euros to the cause.

Mr. de Vries, who was also the director of a law office, had been an adviser over the past year to a key witness in a trial over killings said to have been ordered by a criminal organization. The main defendant in the case, Ridouan Taghi, who is accused of leading the organization, was arrested in Dubai in 2019.

Derk Wiersum, a lawyer for the same key witness in that trial, was killed in Amsterdam in 2019. The witness’s brother was shot dead in 2018.

Amsterdam and other Dutch cities have been the scene of several shootings over the past decade in which criminals have targeted either each other or those interfering in their crimes. The nearby port of Rotterdam is one of the key gateways for importing cocaine into Europe, and the country is a leader in the illegal production of amphetamines and crystal meth.

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Health

For a Science Reporter, the Job Was All the time In regards to the Individuals

For a Science Reporter, the Job Was Always About the People

“I would have liked to have lived longer, worked longer,” said Sister Mary Andrew Matesich, a Catholic nun in 2004. But she said, “It is not the hand that has been given to me.”

She had breast cancer that had spread and she had volunteered for experimental treatments knowing they probably wouldn’t save her but hoping the research would help other patients.

“I wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for other women in clinical trials,” she said.

She died about a year after our conversation. She was 66.

In 22 years of writing medicine for the New York Times, I have covered births, deaths, illnesses, new treatments that worked and some failed, bold innovations in surgery, and countless studies in medical journals. The goal has always been to provide clear information that is useful and interesting to readers, and to show the human side of what the message could mean to patients. When reporting on Covid last year, the focus of my work was on vaccines and treatments, but also on people with other serious illnesses who missed care because of the pandemic.

Today is my last day as a staff writer at The Times. When I retired, the most vivacious were the people: their faces, their voices, their stories, the unexpected truths they revealed – sometimes after I put my notebook away – that shook me or taught or humiliated me, and about it reminded that this beat is about a lot more than all of the data I’d tried to analyze over the decades. It offers a glimpse into the way disease and injury can shape people’s lives, and the huge differences medical advances can make for those who have access to them.

Many who spoke to me suddenly became what we all fear – patients – and faced difficult situations. Nobody sought attention, but they agreed to interviews in the hopes that their stories might help or encourage other people.

Tom and Kari Whitehead invited me to their home in 2012 to meet their daughter Emily, then 7, who was near death from leukemia while they were playing an experimental treatment that genetically altered some of her cells. She was the first child to have it. When we visited seven months after her treatment, she did somersaults and adorned the family’s Christmas tree with a naked Barbie doll. Emily is now 16 years old and the treatment she received was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2017.

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June 17, 2021 at 1:52 p.m. ET

Other stories were painfully instructive. One woman described her painful, aggressive cancer caused by a sexually transmitted virus, but had to omit her name because she believed her mother-in-law would call her a “slut” when she was diagnosed.

A young former Marine with a brain injury and severe facial damage from a bomb in Iraq said he had a girlfriend prior to his deployment and they were discussing marriage when he returned. “But I didn’t come back,” he said.

Moments of kindness and wisdom also stand out. A doctor who suggested that a little extra time for a cancer patient could mean being there for a wedding or graduation forever tempered my science writer’s cynicism about treatments that could only add months to a person’s life.

In the middle of the night, I accompanied a transplant team who, with the consent of the parents, were to harvest organs from a young woman who was brain dead from an overdose. Team members slipped into a waiting room, taking special care not to allow relatives to see the ice boxes that would carry the young woman’s organs, including her heart.

Looking for help with an article in January, I told Dr. James Bussel, a blood disorders expert at Weill Cornell Medicine, told of a woman who had developed a severe bleeding problem after receiving a Covid vaccination. He surprised me by asking for the family phone number so he could offer his help. Under the direction of Dr. Bussel, the woman’s doctors changed her treatment, a change of course that the patient believes saved her life. Since then, Dr. Bussel has provided similar assistance in about 30 to 40 other cases of this rare condition across the country.

When I asked why he was ready to get involved, he said he became a doctor to help people, adding, “I feel like I have this expertise and it would be stupid to waste it, if I could contribute and help someone. “

In a lesser way, I had similar aspirations. I’ve had an opportunity to do work that I believe is valuable and that I hoped could do something good. Reporting for The Times was a license to meet fascinating people and ask them endless questions. I owe my thanks to everyone who took the time to speak to me, and I hope I lived up to their stories.

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Politics

Damon Weaver, Youngster Reporter Who Interviewed Obama, Dies at 23

Damon Weaver, Child Reporter Who Interviewed Obama, Dies at 23

Damon Weaver, who was one of the youngest to interview a seated president at age 11 and later attracted attention for conducting other high-profile interviews with celebrities like Dwyane Wade and Oprah Winfrey, died on May 1. He was 23 years old.

The death was confirmed by Candace Hardy, Mr. Weaver’s sister. The cause was not disclosed.

Ms. Hardy told WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, Fla. That her brother texted her while she was working that he was in the hospital. He had already died when she visited him, she said.

In 2009, then 11-year-old Weaver conducted a session interview with President Barack Obama in the diplomatic room of the White House, questioning him on topics such as the Obama administration’s efforts to improve education in lower-income areas, such as: Weaver’s hometown, Pahokee, Florida, and Mr. Obama’s basketball skills.

“You did a great job on this interview, so someone has to be doing something right at this school,” Mr. Obama told Mr. Weaver after the 11-year-old was invited to visit Kathryn E. Cunningham / Canal Point Elementary School South Florida.

Prior to his meeting with Mr. Obama, Mr. Weaver received considerable attention through a 2008 interview with Mr. Obama’s then-comrade-in-arms Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Damon Lazar Weaver Jr. was born on April 1, 1998 according to his funeral announcement. His sister told WPTV that Mr. Weaver was “a light” and “the life of the party”. According to the station, Mr. Weaver graduated from high school on a full scholarship from Albany State University in Georgia. He graduated from university in 2020, according to a post on his Instagram page.

“Everyone couldn’t wait to be around,” Ms. Hardy told WPTV. “Family reunions, they were always fun just because of his presence.”

Information on Mr. Weaver’s survivors was not immediately available.

Mr. Weaver also covered Mr. Obama’s inauguration as the 44th President on his school’s television newscast and interviewed attendees and celebrities at the inauguration, including Ms. Winfrey and Samuel L. Jackson. In an interview with The Associated Press before going to Washington, Mr. Weaver highlighted what he enjoyed most about being a reporter.

“I liked seeing people on TV so I thought I might do this job one day,” said Weaver. “I like being a reporter because you can learn a lot, meet nice people and travel a lot.”

Mr Weaver said that his favorite subjects at school at the time were reading and math and that his goal was to one day become a journalist and maybe even a soccer player, astronaut or president.

“I’m very proud of him,” said Regina Weaver, the mother of Mr. Weaver, to The AP.

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Business

New York Publish Reporter Who Wrote False Kamala Harris Story Resigns

New York Post Reporter Who Wrote False Kamala Harris Story Resigns

Ms. Italiano, a veteran postal journalist and long-time chronicler of the New York Courts, is a popular figure on the newspaper’s newsroom. She did not respond to inquiries about her resignation or the making of the Harris Article. Post officials did not respond to calls and emails on Tuesday evening.

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April 27, 2021 at 5:49 p.m. ET

Her sudden exit underscored some of the tensions currently plaguing the Post, a classic militant city tabloid that served as a means of reporting for former President Donald J. Trump many times during his tenure.

Mr Murdoch, who spoke to Mr Trump frequently, installed a new editor at the tabloid last month, Keith Poole, who previously held a top position in Mr Murdoch’s London newspaper The Sun. At least eight journalists from The Post recently left, including a White House correspondent Ebony Bowden.

Fox News and The Post have long shown a certain symbiosis due to their joint ownership of Murdoch. (Just last week, The Post published a gossip article complaining that Glamor magazine didn’t write articles about female Fox News stars.)

Fox News presenters like Tucker Carlson, Greg Gutfeld and Martha MacCallum discussed the Post article about their programs on Monday. Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy quoted “a report in the last few days in the New York Post” before asking White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday whether Ms. Harris made “money on her books.” “allegedly distributed in the shelters. Ms. Psaki said she “definitely needs to check” what The Post described in a follow-up story when Ms. Psaki offered “no answers”.

On Tuesday’s Fox & Friends, co-host Ainsley Earhardt told viewers the allegations about the Harris Book were “incorrect” and quoted the Washington Post that morning’s fact-checking column. Also on Tuesday, Fox News updated its article on the Harris Book to determine that only a single copy was seen at the shelter and that it was being shipped as “part of a citywide book and toy drive.”

Fox News has come under fire in the past few days for another false claim aired on the network: President Biden planned to cut American red meat consumption as part of his plan to combat climate change. An on-air graphic from Fox News declared “Bye-Bye Burgers Under Biden’s Climate Plan,” sparking a cycle of outrage from conservative commentators.

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Business

Covid in Brazil ‘fully uncontrolled,’ says Sao Paulo-based reporter

Covid in Brazil ‘completely out of control,' says Sao Paulo-based reporter

Brazil has just reached a grim milestone for Covid-19, and a Sao Paulo-based reporter sees no improvement in the situation anytime soon.

“We have people dying of oxygen starvation, people are literally suffocating,” Patricia Campos Mello, a reporter from Folha de Sao Paulo told CNBC’s The News with Shepard Smith on Tuesday. “There are no intubation drugs, there are no intensive care beds. It’s a combination of a lack of planning and simply denying the severity of the disease.”

“The situation is completely out of control,” added Campos Mello.

Campos Mello comments came after Brazil registered a record daily number of Covid deaths on Tuesday, which saw more than 3,700 deaths, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health. According to the Johns Hopkins University, Brazil has the second most common Covid death in the world, followed by the US. In addition, less than 2% of the Brazilian population has received at least one dose of vaccine.

However, President Jair Bolsonaro has consistently attacked security measures related to Covid. Earlier this month, he told people to stop “whining” about the deaths and just move on. Campos Mello noted that the world can learn from the mistakes made in Brazil.

“I think the main lesson is that when you have a president or leader who is spreading disinformation and saying that people shouldn’t worry about not having to do social distancing, it is very, very serious, and it’s us I see the results now with all the deaths, “said Campos Mello.

Bolsonaro also replaced some of his senior military officials on Tuesday after sacking a defense minister as part of a major cabinet reshuffle on Monday. Campos Mello told CNBC’s Shepard Smith the political chaos was the result of Bolsonaro’s response to widespread pressure from the country’s mismanagement of the pandemic.

“President Bolsonaro’s approval ratings are falling, so he fired some ministers and today the chiefs of the armed forces resigned because they were pressured by Bolsonaro to curfew or take extreme measures that were almost excessive,” she said.

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Health

Suggestions for Coping at House: Recommendation From a Life-style Reporter

Tips for Coping at Home: Advice From a Lifestyle Reporter

Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and provides a behind-the-scenes look at how our journalism comes together.

While we remain in quarantine, unsure whether the slow road to normal is still a few miles or a million, Melissa Kirsch, editor of culture and lifestyle, is part of a team at the New York Times that spends a lot of time trying to thinking about how to live a full and fulfilling life in isolation. We asked Ms. Kirsch, who writes the newsletter at home, to share her experiences over the past year and to share some of her own strategies for living well in an uncertain time. The following are their edited comments.

Give me something to look forward to. On Monday evening I meet two friends on FaceTime to watch a crime documentary. We don’t talk during the film, but when we have them in the room, even on a screen, the experience becomes more exciting. When my energy wears off in the middle of a Monday afternoon, I will remember the movie night and feel both relief and anticipation. It’s not really a movie in a theater, but it still feels special.

Think about how I would like to look back on that time. I consciously try to do things that will help me feel better about this experience in the future. This can mean reading more, or cooking more, or being creative in how I connect with other people – like writing letters or meeting people for walks in the cold. I don’t want Zoom chats and Netflix blurring this year.

Write down minute details. I keep a logbook, an idea I got from the artist Austin Kleon. Every day or as often as I can, I try to write down the most mundane details of the day. Today I could write about warming up Farro for lunch or talking to someone at The Times about a computer problem. We will forget those tiny details that make up a day when we look back on that time. I hope if I read them in over a decade the complexion of the days comes alive: how it really was, separate from the larger narrative of “a year in quarantine”.

Act like I’m a person with a purpose. I try to give the day some structure, even if I just make my bed, shower and leave the house first thing in the morning to take a short walk before work. When I do these things, I feel really normal. Another thing is bedtime. Going to bed at a reasonable time helped maintain some sort of faucet for the days.

Differentiate my days. I really want to get better at clearly demarcating the weekend from the week. We usually think of the weekend as a time to slow down. Every day is so similar to the one before, so I try to see the weekend as a time to accelerate. So I could have a socially distant outdoor slope with a friend in the middle of the day and meet up with another friend in the evening and do the cooking, cleaning and running errands. I don’t have a commute or social schedule, so I usually don’t need any downtime to recover from the week. I need time.

Make exercise a part of my “social” life. When my daily life is busy and chaotic, I often view movement as a solo activity, a brief period of time to think before I get back to the world. With so much time being spent detaching myself from the world these days, I’ve started jogging without headphones, deliberately trying to take advantage of the moments when I’m outside the home and around other people, even though I am not intentionally interacting with them. I purposely jog down the street that has outdoor restaurants or a playground, routes I would have avoided before. This way I train not only to keep my mind and body in shape, but also to inhabit my neighborhood, to feel how we are all connected and to live our lives in parallel.

Find information. Whether I’m jogging in a more populous place or purposely walking in a place with more shops and more sights, I try to make every trip an exercise to replenish my experience with the world. Our thoughts, actions and creativity are inspired by the people and things around us. And when we have limited people and things around us, life becomes smaller. Even when we distance ourselves socially, we need social interactions, information that keep our minds sharp and make our personality interesting.

Create a tiny routine. These can be small pleasurable things. A routine doesn’t have to be an elaborate punishment system that you impose on your day. Rather, you can just keep doing the tiny things you do every day. It can be crucial that you just drink coffee on your stairs every morning or take your dog for a walk at 1 p.m. I make my bed every morning and do the crossword puzzle during lunch. These are pretty rudimentary elements of a day, but there are two bars between which the hours of the morning hang. Anything you do on a regular basis and on purpose can give shape and purpose to the day.

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Politics

Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo suspended for reportedly threatening reporter

Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo suspended for reportedly threatening reporter

White House Assistant Secretary TJ Ducklo listens as Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press conference at the White House on Tuesday, February 9, 2021 in Washington.

Patrick Semansky | AP

President Joe Biden’s deputy press secretary at the White House was suspended for a week without pay after reportedly threatening a reporter.

TJ Ducklo, who was also Biden’s main campaign spokesperson, was put on leave for seven days after a Vanity Fair story that described a controversial conversation with a Politico reporter. During that conversation, Ducklo allegedly said, “I will destroy you.”

Ducklo reportedly made derogatory and misogynistic comments to the reporter, who is a woman.

According to the Vanity Fair story, White House officials were aware of Ducklo’s conversation with the reporter in January. The suspension comes hours after the Vanity Fair story is posted on Friday.

The reporter Ducklo allegedly threatened was investigating Ducklo’s relationship with an Axios reporter who had covered Biden.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said in a series of tweets on Friday that Ducklo has been suspended and will no longer be able to speak to reporters at Politico.

Ducklo’s suspension comes weeks after Biden himself told a group of administrative officials that he would fire anyone who treated another colleague with disrespect.

“I’m not kidding when I say this, if you ever work with me and I hear that you are treating another colleague with disrespect, speak to someone and I’ll fire you immediately. No ifs or buts,” Biden said last month .

Ducklo, who didn’t respond to CNBC’s request for comment, was previously an NBC employee.

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Business

White Home Press Aide Resigns Over Name to Reporter

White House Press Aide Resigns Over Call to Reporter

WASHINGTON – White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo resigned Saturday after it was reported that he was using abusive and sexist language with a reporter who was working on an article about his romantic relationship with a journalist from another publication would have.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the resignation in a statement Saturday night, the day after he said Mr Ducklo would be suspended for a week without pay.

“We accepted TJ Ducklo’s resignation after speaking to him tonight,” said Ms. Psaki, noting that Ron Klain, the White House chief of staff, approved the decision. “We strive every day to strive to meet the standard set by the President, to treat others with dignity and respect, with courtesy and with value to others through our words and actions.”

Ducklo, 32, had served as national press secretary during Biden’s presidential campaign, dealing frequently with reporters and serving as campaign spokesman. During the transition, Mr. Ducklo served as spokesman and was appointed deputy press officer.

His quick departure suggests that Mr. Biden was keen to avoid his communications office sinking into protracted controversy in the early days of his tenure. Several reporters asked Ms. Psaki on Friday how Mr. Ducklo could work effectively with reporters.

The resignation follows a report by Vanity Fair on Friday that reported an exchange he allegedly had with Tara Palmeri, a reporter from Politico, who contacted him about his relationship with Alexi McCammond, which was about the Biden Campaign for the online publication Axios reported.

According to the Vanity Fair report, which was later confirmed by the New York Times, Mr. Ducklo told Ms. Palmeri that if she published an article about the relationship, he would “destroy” her. He also reportedly told her that she was “jealous” of Ms. McCammond and was following the story. He used vulgar language, according to two people who knew the call.

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Ms. Psaki said Friday that Mr. Ducklo spoke to Ms. Palmeri and apologized and later sent a message apologizing again. Ms Psaki also said White House officials had advised senior editors at Politico that Mr Ducklo’s behavior was unacceptable.

When Mr Ducklo returned to work, he said he would not be allowed to interact with Politico reporters.

“And that was, from our point of view, a – was an important step in getting the message across that we didn’t find it acceptable,” she said at the time. She also called the week-long suspension a “severe punishment”.

However, this position did not last longer than a day.

In a statement late Saturday, Mr. Ducklo acknowledged the circumstances surrounding his release and regretted that he had used language that was “disgusting, disrespectful and unacceptable”.

“This incident is not representative of who I am as a person,” he said, “and I will be determined to regain the trust of everyone whom I have disappointed because of my intolerable actions.”

In part, the rapid change reflected the red line that Mr Biden himself had laid down for his personal conduct in his administration.

On inauguration day, the president forwarded indictments to hundreds of his political officials as he swore them in, warning that he would fire anyone he heard was disrespectful.

“If you ever work with me and I hear that you are treating another colleague with disrespect, speak to someone, I promise I will fire you immediately,” said Mr. Biden. “No ifs and buts. Everyone has the right to be treated with decency and dignity. That has been very missing in the last four years. “

When asked Friday whether Mr Ducklo’s behavior met this standard, Ms. Psaki said, “It is not our standard – it is not the President’s standard.” But she refused to say at the time why he shouldn’t be released.

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Business

White Home Suspends Deputy Press Secretary for Threatening Reporter

White House Suspends Deputy Press Secretary for Threatening Reporter

President Biden and his press department have tried to change the tone of correspondents who endured years of hostility while covering the previous administration.

That effort was undercut last month when a White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo threatened a Politico journalist who covered his close personal relationship with a reporter who covered Mr Biden. On Friday after Mr Ducklo’s threat came to light, the White House announced that it had suspended him for a week without pay.

In a phone call on January 20, Mr. Ducklo told reporter Tara Palmeri, a writer of Politico’s Playbook newsletter, that he was “destroying” her after inquiring about his romantic relationship with Alexi McCammond, an Axios reporter would have.

Ms Palmeri asked about the relationship because it coincided with Mr Ducklo’s time as Mr Biden’s press secretary during the presidential campaign and the transition period between election day and inauguration. Axios reassigned Ms. McCammond after telling her superiors about the relationship in November, taking her out of coverage of Mr. Biden and putting her in one fell swoop, which includes Vice President Kamala Harris.

Mr Ducklo’s threats against Ms. Palmeri were reported by Vanity Fair on Friday and confirmed by two people who were aware of the phone call.

On Monday, Politico informed the White House that it would publish an article in Playbook about the relationship the next day. That night, People’s Politico hit the story and published a feel-good article titled “Reporters Cut Out on the President While Romance Blooms With Biden Aide For Cancer.” (Mr. Ducklo was being treated for lung cancer.)

Politico’s article appeared Tuesday morning under the heading “Open Secret”. Axios was charged with allowing a reporter to continue reporting on the White House while with a member of the administration.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Friday that Mr. Ducklo “will no longer work with reporters at Politico” following his suspension.

“TJ Ducklo apologized to the reporter with whom he had a heated discussion about his personal life,” Ms. Psaki said in a statement. “He is the first to recognize that this is not the standard of conduct set by the president. In addition to his initial apology, he sent the reporter a personal note expressing his deep regret. “

Politico editor-in-chief Matt Kaminski and his editor-in-chief Carrie Budoff Brown said in a statement Friday that they raised concerns about the threatened statements made to the White House shortly after the phone call.

“No journalist at Politico – or any other publication or network – should ever be exposed to such unfounded personal attacks while doing his job,” the statement said.

In a remark shortly before the swearing-in ceremony for members of his administration last month, Mr Biden said he would not hesitate to fire employees who behaved disrespectfully.

“If you ever work with me and I hear that you are treating another colleague with disrespect, speak to someone, I promise I will fire you immediately,” warned Mr. Biden. “No ifs and buts. Everyone has the right to be treated with decency and dignity. That has been very missing in the last four years. “

At a White House briefing Friday, Ms. Psaki defended the decision to suspend Mr. Ducklo instead of firing him, despite describing his behavior as “totally unacceptable”. She didn’t explain why he wasn’t suspended until Vanity Fair reported on the exchange.

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Business

New York Occasions Reporter Is Accused of Utilizing Racial Slur With Scholar Group

New York Times Reporter Is Accused of Using Racial Slur With Student Group

A New York Times science and health correspondent, whose coverage of the coronavirus pandemic was a staple of the newspaper’s front page and its leading podcast, The Daily, was accused of using a racist slur and making racist comments while listening to it as an expert guide on a Times-sponsored student trip, the Times said Thursday.

Donald G. McNeil Jr., a 45-year veteran of the Times who has covered from 60 countries, has been the subject of complaints from travelers traveling to Peru for student journeys in 2019, a number of experts from the list of newspapers at Employees and contributors.

The Daily Beast reported Thursday that at least six out of 26 students or their parents complained about Mr. McNeil’s comments. The Times later confirmed in a statement that Mr. McNeil had used a “racial fraud”.

“In 2019, Donald McNeil Jr. was an expert on a student tour,” the Times said in the statement. “As a result, we became aware of complaints from some students on the trip about certain statements Donald had made during the trip.

“We conducted a thorough investigation and disciplined Donald over statements and language that were inappropriate and inconsistent with our values,” the statement continued. “We found that he had used poor judgment by repeating a racist arc in a conversation about racist language. We also apologized to the students who participated in the trip. “

The Times would not provide details of how or when Mr. McNeil had been disciplined. Mr. McNeil declined to comment. Putney Student Travel, the organizer of the 14-day trip, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an email to the Times staff Thursday night, Dean Baquet, the editor-in-chief, said when he first heard of the complaints about Mr. McNeil, “I was outraged and expected to be fired.” However, after investigation, Mr. Baquet concluded that what he had said was offensive and that he displayed extremely poor judgment, but that it did not appear to me that his intentions were hateful or malicious.

“I believe that in such cases, people should be told that they are wrong and that they are given another chance,” continued Mr. Baquet. “He was formally disciplined. He didn’t get a passport. “

Mr. McNeil has been involved with infectious diseases for more than a decade. He received the John Chancellor Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism last year. His first article on the coronavirus, written with a China correspondent, Sui-Lee Wee, appeared on Jan 8, 2020. It helped educate American readers who were unaware of the threat from a virus that appeared to be confined to Wuhan, China.

This week, Mr. McNeil wrote an article based on an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci on his experience as director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases under President Donald J. Trump. Mr. McNeil discussed the interview on an episode of “The Daily”.