A total lack of compassion here.
The Berkeley tragedy is a world story now with publications all over the globe reporting what happened to those students in California yesterday morning.
The New York Times, which is usually a beacon of exceptional journalism, have got their coverage very wrong and a lot of people are upset.
.@nytimes Your newspaper’s reporting of the #Berkeley tragedy is a disgrace.
— Aodhán Ó Ríordáin TD (@AodhanORiordain) June 17, 2015
The paper use the Berkeley incident to bring up old negative J1-related stories. Here is an extract from the article.
“They come by the thousands — Irish students on work visas, many flocking to the West Coast to work in summer jobs by day and to enjoy the often raucous life in a college town at night.
“It was, for many, a rite of passage, one last summer to enjoy travel abroad before beginning a career.”
The next paragraph is the one that’s struck a nerve, it’s so badly judged considering the sensitivity of the topic.
“…the work-visa program that allowed for the exchanges has in recent years become not just a source of aspiration, but also a source of embarrassment for Ireland, marked by a series of high-profile episodes involving drunken partying and the wrecking of apartments in places like San Francisco and Santa Barbara.”
The reaction to that has been very strong.
I wonder would the @nytimes have been as insensitive if it had been American kids on Spring Break in Cancun.
— John O’Sullivan (@johngosullivan) June 17, 2015
The. Lack of sensitivity showcased by #NewYorkTimes while covering the deaths of the 6 J1 students is so disheartening horrific journalism
— Louise Dillon (@weezah94) June 17, 2015
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