Former New York Times global health reporter Donald McNeil took to Medium as he wanted to provide his story of the events that led to his resignation. McNeil resigned in early February amid a race-related controversy.
Nonetheless, the ex-Times reporter apologized for his actions in his resignation letter after allegations came to light that he had made inappropriate comments about race and used a racial slur during a Times-sponsored 2019 student trip, where he served as a guide.
Despite the letter, McNeil wanted to put out an unfiltered statement regarding his departure, stating the pressure he received to resign.
“I’m publishing my thoughts here on Medium because I know journalists. We make America what it is — without a free press, democracy dies. But we’re still jackals,” McNeil wrote. “Since January 28, I’ve been a jackal circled by jackals.”
“It’s been quite baffling and painful for me to have people assume I’m a racist and believe that I said the ridiculous things I’m accused of saying — that ‘racism is over,’ that ‘white supremacy doesn’t exist,’ or ‘white privilege doesn’t exist,’ or that I defended the use of blackface or said horrible things about black teenagers in general.”
“Obviously, I badly misjudged my audience in Peru that year. I thought I was generally arguing in favor of open-mindedness and tolerance — but it clearly didn’t come across that way. And my bristliness makes me an imperfect pedagogue for sensitive teenagers. I do not see why their complaints should have ended my career at the Times two years later. But they did.”
In response to McNeil’s blog post, the Times didn’t have a comment on the matter. “We’re reviewing the posts and not commenting further for now,” a Times spokesperson said.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
