New York Times looks back on a story of expensive curtains

Late on Thursday, the Times published a bit of liability journalism, detailing extravagant expenditures at taxpayers' expense on a government-rented Manhattan apartment now occupied by Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations. Specifically, the article mentioned that federal interior decorators spent $ 52,701 on new curtains, including a motorized system to open and close them.

The original title read as follows: "View of New York by Nikki Haley is Priceless. His curtains? $ 52,701.

Well yes. But not exactly.

It is true, as the story goes, that the Ambassador's 6,000 square foot apartment on First Avenue – often used to receive diplomats – has an invaluable view of Manhattan. It is also true, as indicated in the main paragraph of the story, that the curtains of the bay windows of the apartment were installed "just as the department was under deep cuts and hired employees."

But all of this distorts the actual timing and context of Drape-gate, which the Times – or at least its title – initially seemed to attribute to Haley and the Trump administration.

In fact, readers who simply scanned the title and photo thinking it was another Trump administration expense scandal may have missed several important pieces of information in the body of the story, starting with the sixth paragraph: the Obama administration in 2016. "Ms. Haley did not have a say in the purchase," said a spokeswoman for Haley in the article.

The misleading context has provided ammunition to those who view the media in general and the Times in particular as hostile to Trump and his administration. Cries of "false news" began appearing on Twitter shortly after the publication of the story.

Critics argued that the title, with a picture of Haley, gave the impression that Haley, or the Trump State Department, was responsible for the expenses.

The conservative Daily Caller newspaper has collected tweets blowing up the Times for its so-called anti-Trump vision, supplementing them with a headline saying the Times had "verified its facts with its own article of accompaniment." Fake News About $ 52,701 Curtains by Nikki Haley. "

In the middle of the afternoon of Friday, the Times reconsidered.

He removed Haley's photo and changed the title to the less colorful, but more accurate, "State Department spent $ 52,701 on the curtains for the residence of the US envoy."

She also added a note from the editor, which reads as follows: "An earlier version of this article and its title created an unfair impression of who was responsible for the purchase in question. While Nikki R. Haley is the current ambassador to the United Nations, the decision to rent the ambassador's residence and buy the curtains was taken during the Obama administration, according to current and former officials. The article should not have been about Ms. Haley or a picture of her. The article and title have been changed to reflect these concerns and the photo has been removed.

Arriving by phone on Friday, Times reporter Gardiner Harris hung up without comment. He did not respond to follow-up messages.

Times editor Dean Baquet said in a brief interview that he prefers the editor's note to correct the story. He added, "The main lesson is that if we are wrong, we correct. We belong to it.

Haley herself retweeted the Times tweet about the rating of his publisher.

The unanswered question in all the hubbub: Why did the State Department, under whatever administration, consider it necessary to give up more than $ 50,000 on the curtains?