NYT apologizes for highlighting names of Jewish lawmakers - Erez Linn and Israel Hayom Staff

by Erez Linn and Israel Hayom Staff

"The graphic, as almost everyone now seems to agree, was insensitive and inappropriate," writes New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan of chart highlighting Jewish lawmakers in yellow • Chart focused on opposition to Iran nuclear deal.

The chart as it originally appeared in The New York Times

The New York Times issued an apology on Friday after readers complained about a chart that highlighted Jewish lawmakers in yellow, emphasizing their Judaism as an implied cause of their opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. 

The original chart, published on Thursday and later changed, featured a list of Democratic lawmakers opposed to the deal alongside a column with the heading "Jewish?" followed by a "yes" or "no." All the yeses were highlighted in yellow. 

Another column listed the estimated Jewish population in each senator's district, again highlighting percentages that exceeded that national average Jewish population in the United States. 

New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan penned a piece calling the graphic "insensitive," and explaining that it was revised following criticism from readers. The new version of the chart appears without the "Jewish?" column. 

She further wrote that while editors originally made the modification without explanation, a note was later added to explain the reasoning behind changing the chart. 

Sullivan summed up the incident, writing, "The graphic, as almost everyone now seems to agree, was insensitive and inappropriate. I would add that it was regrettably tone-deaf. It shouldn't have appeared in that form to begin with. Given that it did, Times editors took the right action in listening to the objections and changing it."

[Editor: Where is the outrage that would have accompanied this travesty if it had been directed against any other ethnic group?!]

Erez Linn and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=28273&hp=1

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