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US reporter criticised by regional daily did not intend to ‘upset’ city

KimikoA reporter from a major American newspaper says she did not intend to cause “upset” after a regional daily accused her of writing a “biased, patronising and grossly distorted” article about its patch.

As reported on HTFP on Friday, the Sunderland Echo criticised the New York Times after it ran a piece on voters in the city following the EU referendum.

The article by Kimiko De Freytas-Tamura, pictured above left, who works at the Times’ London bureau, said the vote had “exposed deep regional divisions and a rift between classes,” with 61pc of people in Sunderland backing the Leave campaign.

However, after the Echo’s backlash, Kimiko said she had written the article in good faith to try find out why the city voted the way it did.

She added: “My intention was not to upset residents of Sunderland nor to paint it in bad light; it was to understand why people overwhelmingly voted Leave when its economy seems to be tied to Nissan, the largest employer in the region, and EU funding.

“What I discovered was there were a lot of people who felt, despite those benefits, that they were being left behind by globalization, by mainstream political parties, and a city still feeling the effects of Thatcher’s policies.

“They had nothing to lose by voting out because they had nothing to gain from globalisation in the first place – that was the sentiment I was aiming to capture.

“I chose Washington because it’s where a lot of Leave voters live, and I described it in good faith. To me, that was the epicentre of the Leave vote.

“I could not have written that it was prosperous and had glittery shops, because that would have been untrue. I agree, and mentioned in the article, that the city has sleek modern buildings like the Sunderland Uni campus, Sunderland Software Centre – which makes it even harder to understand why the city voted out.”

On Thursday, the Echo called on the Times to offer an apology for its coverage and challenged it to send a reporter back to see all the positive progress on its patch.

Managing editor Gavin Foster said: “What we as a city took exception with was the selective and biased way the city was portrayed and the type of language and vocabulary which made it appear we lived in Victorian Britain.

“This is the New York Times – this image of great city will travel around the world. It was inaccurate and irresponsible. We have sent the reporter and the Times a copy of today’s paper and responses from our community.

“We are still asking for a redress and have extended a further invite for a return to the city. We await a response.”

7 comments

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  • July 5, 2016 at 8:36 am
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    I’m baffled by this. I’ve read the original article and don’t understand the furore? ‘Parts of the North in post-Thatcher run down shocker’

    I recognise her description of Washington in the North East from about a dozen Northern towns, probably more, that I’ve been to.

    This just smacks of the usual ‘people’s champion’ reportage from local newspapers that I’ve always found quite lazy. The Liverpool Echo has made a living out of it ‘scousers vs the world’ etc etc in the hopes of buying into local umbrage and pide to sell papers quite cynically, even though most of the staff are no longer from there.

    Proper local reporting involves reporting on your locality with camera and pen, not being seen to rail against every slight – both real and manufactured.

    That being said, I’m confused as to the American press’s take on this too. You only have to watch a show like The Wire to see how the States pioneered the idea of cannibalising your own cities in favour of offshoring and cheap foreign labour and imports. I believe they grow tomatoes in the burned out husks of old car factories in Detroit while Apple builds its wares in Chinese factories where conditions are allegedly so bad people have actually committed suicide.

    Lest we also forget the wonderful example of sensible economic planning that was Lehman Brothers. If you’re looking for the ‘Mount Doom’ of failed global capitalism, look no further than New York.

    Speaking as a remainer too, the American bafflement with ‘brexit is interesting too, seeing as a large proportion seem to resent being told what to do by their own government, let alone one in another country. Guns out boys, here come the feds to offer me free healthcare!!

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  • July 5, 2016 at 9:12 am
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    Serious sense of humour loss here. There was plenty of fun to be had, but playing the victim is easier.

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  • July 5, 2016 at 10:36 am
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    Bit of an overreaction from my home-town paper, but Sunderland and other northern cities do get stereotyped by national (and now international) press.

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  • July 5, 2016 at 11:36 am
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    Yeah, it’s quite a balanced, insightful article, and it’s worth noting that the NYT has to spell out to its readers some things that can be taken for granted with a British readership (e.g. the decline of heavy industry in the north).

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  • July 5, 2016 at 3:00 pm
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    I’ve worked with Kimiko – she’s a thoughtful and experienced journalist who takes her craft seriously. It’s a good piece. Newspapers, of all organisations, should resist the knee-jerk temptation to shoot the messenger.

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  • July 5, 2016 at 3:25 pm
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    Can’t see what all the fuss is about – and it would appear that, judging by Echo readers’ comments on its website, quite a few people living in the city agree with the NYT.

    More than a whiff of hypocrisy about this too as the Echo thinks so much of Sunderland that it decided last year to move to Houghton-le-Spring, a town several miles distant, and the printing of the paper was switched in 2012 to Sheffield. A real double vote of confidence in the city by a newspaper purporting to be its champion.

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