By Brian Freeman (NEWSMAX)
The New York Times said that one of its journalists went too far with his harsh criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus crisis in a television interview, Fox News has reported.
During a conversation with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday, New York Times’ science and health reporter Donald McNeil Jr. blasted President Donald Trump for knowledge on the subject that is not even at “a third-grade level,” said Vice President Mike Pence is a “sycophant,” slammed the “incompetent leadership” at the CDC and called on its director to resign.
A Times spokesperson said McNeil, Jr. “went too far in expressing his personal views. His editors have discussed the issue with him to reiterate that his job is to report the facts and not to offer his own opinions. We are confident that his reporting on science and medicine for The Times has been scrupulously fair and accurate.”
Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple pointed out that McNeil Jr.’s harsh comments appeared to contradict the Times’ own guidelines, which state that “a staff member should not say anything on radio, television or the Internet that could not appear under his or her byline in The Times on its reporters expressing personal views.”
McNeil has worked at The Times for more than 30 years, specializing in covering plagues and pestilences, according to the Business Insider.
The Times has portrayed him as an authoritative voice on the coronavirus and has highlighted him in efforts to gain subscriptions.
