A New York Occasions science and well being correspondent whose experiences on the coronavirus pandemic have been an everyday a part of the entrance web page of the newspaper and its important podcast, “The Every day,” has been accused of utilizing racial slur and making racist feedback whereas serving as an skilled information on a Occasions-sponsored journey for highschool college students, the Occasions stated Thursday.
Donald G. McNeil Jr., a 45-year veteran of the Occasions who reported from 60 nations, has been the topic of complaints from vacationers who went to Peru in 2019 as a part of Pupil Journeys, a collection that features specialists from the journal checklist of workers members and contributors.
The Every day Beast reported Thursday that a minimum of six college students or their mother and father, out of 26 on the journey, complained about Mr. McNeil’s feedback. The Occasions later confirmed in a press release that Mr McNeil had used a “racial slur”.
“In 2019, Donald McNeil Jr. participated in a Pupil Journey as an skilled,” the Occasions stated within the assertion. “We later grew to become conscious of some college students’ complaints on the journey concerning sure statements that Donald had made through the journey.
“We carried out an intensive and disciplined investigation into Donald’s statements and language that had been inappropriate and inconsistent with our values,” the assertion continued. “We discovered that he had used dangerous judgment by repeating a racist insult within the context of a dialog about racist language. As well as, we apologize to the scholars who had participated within the journey. ”
The Occasions doesn’t present particulars on how, or when, Mr. McNeil had been disciplined. McNeil declined to remark. Putney Pupil Journey, the 14-day tour operator, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
For greater than a decade Mr. McNeil has been masking infectious illnesses. Final yr he acquired the John Chancellor Award for all times’s success in journalism. His first article on coronavirus, written with a correspondent in China, Sui-Lee Wee, appeared on January 8, 2020. It helped inform American readers that they had been unaware of the specter of a virus that appeared confined in Wuhan, China.
This week, Mr. McNeil wrote an article primarily based on an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci about his expertise main the Nationwide Institute of Allergy and Infectious Ailments underneath President Donald J. Trump. Mr. McNeil mentioned the interview in an episode of “The Every day.”
