On Friday, the New York Times announced that it would return its 2018 Peabody Award for its “Caliphate” podcast, hours after the newspaper conceded that large parts of the audio series did not meet its editorial standards.
Why it’s important: It’s a shameful mistake for The Times, which has invested significant resources in the project since 2018. It’s also a smiling reminder to the journalism industry that even large, well-funded institutions can make costly mistakes.
What they say: “As a standard for quality media, the integrity of the Peabody Award is paramount and we appreciate the professional way the Times has handled this issue,” Jeffrey Jones, executive director of the Peabody Awards, said Friday evening.
- “We will receive the return of the award, recognizing the mutual respect that the two organizations have for the history of the journalistic integrity of the others.”
- rukmini Callimachi, who hosted the series, wrote in a tweet Friday: “To our listeners, I apologize for what we missed and what we did wrong.”
- Times executive editor Dean Baquet said in an interview with The Daily’s morning podcast: “When the New York Times does deep, big, ambitious journalism in any format, we subject it to a lot of scrutiny at the heights of the writing … We didn’t do that in this case. “
- He acknowledged that he personally did not provide the same review process for this story as he did other important investigations, such as Trump’s tax return piece. “I’m completely sorry about that … I personally didn’t pay enough attention to it.”
The state of play: The Times added a note from the editor at the top of pages that include “Caliphate” items.
- The newspaper chose not to delete the original episodes and story, and podcasts are still displayed on the company’s website and podcast platforms.
- The Times had its opinion and the news sections cover the development of the events and Baquet explained what happened to “The Daily”.
- Callimachi has been reassigned, the Washington Post writes.
Get up to date fast: Earlier this year, reports began to appear that the main figure in the “Caliphate” podcast named Shehroze Chaudhry, a self-proclaimed ISIS executioner, had lied and exaggerated about his experience.
The Times conducted an internal investigation after numerous reports of holes in the history of the central figure.
- Canadian authorities arrested Chaudhry in September, alleging he made misleading statements about terrorist activities in interviews
- The Times “found a history of Mr. Chaudhry’s misrepresentations and did not confirm that he committed the atrocities he described in the” Caliphate “podcast,” according to the editor’s note released Friday.
- “I think this guy we believe in now was a scammer,” Baquet said. “I think this is one of those cases where we didn’t hear enough of the things that challenged the story and the signs that maybe our story wasn’t as strong as we thought it was.”
When asked if the answer to the falsehoods of “Caliphate” constitutes a retraction, Baquet told NPR in an interview: “I guess for the parties who dealt [Shehroze] Chaudhry and his history and background. Yes, I think so. I’m sure “.