To: Arthur Brisbane, Public Editor, New York Times
Dear Mr. Brisbane,
We write in reference to last week's New York Times coverage of events relating to Occupy Wall Street.
While the Times reports on OWS have been, in general, fair and accurate, some have manifested significant lapses of journalistic balance and objectivity. Tuesday's Times reached a new low in circulating speculation that DNA evidence suggested a link between Occupy and the 2004 murder of a Julliard student.
A follow-up piece in Wednesday's Times effectively retracted the initial story by noting serious doubts as to the reliability of the initial test results. Even so, based on Tuesday's lurid and inaccurate front page story, many readers will reasonably suspect that Occupy is harboring a murder suspect in its ranks.
The New York Times owes an apology to its readers and to the participants and supporters of Occupy Wall Street whose reputation and integrity have been impugned by the Times's shoddy journalistic practices.
Sincerely,
Steven Sherman, Ethan Young, Christopher Bailey, Oren Fader, Doug Henwood, Steve Creason, Miguel Frasconi, Cath Arine, Kim Barber, Clayton Morgeridge, Louis Proyect, Corey Dargel, Bert Vaux, Liza Featherstone, Jason Grote, Maggie Gray, John Halle, Kathryn Alexander