New York Times op-ed editor resigns amid backlash over column against anti-racism protesters
New York: The editorial page head of the New York Times has resigned after his decision to publish an op-ed - by a US senator who called for military force against anti-racism protesters - drew online fury and criticism from many of the paper's staffers.
James Bennet, the editorial page editor since May 2016, faced intense backlash after initially defending the column headlined Send in The Military by Republican US Senator Tom Cotton.
The hardline op-ed - which Bennet initially defended as an example of the newspaper's commitment to ideological diversity - was met with both internal and external outrage.
Cotton's essay encouraged an "overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers" as anti-racism protests rage across the United States over the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, on May 25.
Some 800 Times staffers signed a petition in protest, as many of the paper's employees tweeted: "Running this puts Black @NYTimes staff in danger."
The company's publisher, AG Sulzberger, also initially defended the decision to issue the column but later said the essay fell short of NYT standards.
Bennet also admitted he had not read the column before its publication.
On Sunday, Sulzberger dubbed Bennet "a journalist of enormous talent and integrity" in an NYT statement announcing the resignation.
The statement did not mention the op-ed controversy, but the paper quoted Sulzberger as saying in a note to staff: "Last week we saw a significant breakdown in our editing processes, not the first we've experienced in recent years."
"James and I agreed that it would take a new team to lead the department through a period of considerable change."
The paper named Katie Kingsbury, a Times staffer since 2017, the acting editorial page editor through the November election.
Source: AFP
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Dalit outfits call state-wide hartal over dental student’s death
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Various Dalit organisations on Monday announced a state-wide hartal seeking justice in the death of Kannur Dental College student Nithin Raj.
The hartal will be observed on Tuesday from 6 am to 6 pm.
As many as 52 Dalit organisations, including Justice for Nithin Raj Action Council, have announced the strike.
Organisations requesting cooperation for the strike said that no vehicles will be forcibly stopped and that all essential services are exempted.
Raj, a first-year BDS student at a private dental college in Anjarakkandy in Kannur district, was found critically injured after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
Police have registered a case against two faculty members on charges of abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, following allegations by the student’s family that he was subjected to caste- and complexion-based harassment.
Kerala Pinnokka Samudaya Munnani (KPSM), one of the organisations supporting the hartal, alleged in a statement that police had shown apathy in the investigation and were attempting to protect the accused in the case.
KPSM state president K V Padmanabhan and general secretary S Anwar alleged that the probe into Raj’s death was being deliberately misdirected and delayed.
While the family has firmly alleged that caste discrimination and mental harassment by faculty members led to the student’s death, police were attempting to divert the investigation towards loan app borrowings, they claimed.
The organisation alleged that this was a planned move to shield the real accused.
KPSM further alleged that by deliberately delaying the arrest of the accused teachers, police enabled them to secure anticipatory bail.
They said there was no confidence in the present police investigation and demanded that the case be handed over to an independent agency at the earliest.
