Compost Donald G. McNeil Jr.

Does your city or well respected national newspaper compost?

In case you haven’t followed it

Donald G. McNeil Jr. was the lead reporter on the pandemic who was — as we now know from his version of the story — asked to resign a week after the Daily Beast published a story about bad things he said on a private school trip to Peru (my high school trip was to DC when the government was closed and we got to see Janet Reno’s assistant!) that were considered offensive.

The indiscretions happened in 2019 — he was slapped on the wrist- but when the newsroom found out about in 2021 — Donald G McNeil Jr. was thrown in the trash after 45 years of reporting.

I defend WOKEness. I try to be WOKE. The goal with wokeness is an awakening, where we all realize how to live with one another and treat everyone with dignity and respect.

Throwing out Donald G. McNeil Jr. is not being WOKE — its being WEAK.

Being trashed, Donald G McNeil Jr. gets his sense of self-righteousness at home — he probably doesn’t change. The NYT Management does this again next week. And certainly some in the newsroom may feel like they got their sense of self satisfaction, but I bet even the most angry of the bunch feel less than satisfied from the result.

It’s all weak. It’s not WOKE. It’s the easy way out. Let Donald G McNeil Jr. suffer in public! Let us see if he can repent and make changes? It’s called COMPOSTING.

The real work comes in the civilized structures of DUE PROCESS. No more emails and secret phone calls. The people who are upset with Donald G. McNeil Jr. should confront him in person. If he is not treating people with dignity, he should not be thrown away — that’s too easy. He should withstand the torture of COMPOST — repenting for his actions, understanding the meaning of them, demonstrating the ability to change and then being an example of how others can be COMPOSTED as well.

Lets face the real problem at the New York Times. The Publisher, AG Sulzburger, unlike Donald G. McNeil Jr., did absolutely nothing to earn his job. His paper has a history of not being WOKE in all sorts of ways, but it all leads to a family that, let’s face it, depending on who you speak to have exploited all sorts of people, whether it be unionized workers or the subjects of actual stories for financial gain.

A G Sulzburger inherited the NYTs which is the epitome of white privilege & patriarchy. It’s easier for him to throw away a reporter who earned his position than to face a full reckoning of his position in society.

As a publisher, AG Sulzburger has absolutely no experience, nor did his father before him. Inheritance of this magnitude is call it whatever you want these days, a patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, or the way the world we presently have works.

It was easy for him to throw Donald G. McNeil Jr. in the garbage.

I think we should compost AG Sulzburger too.

What Donald G. McNeil Jr. did for me this year was provide honest information without other interests throughout the course of this pandemic based on decades of experience — protected by his institution. His The Daily podcasts and stories when they appeared where like a source of oxygen for me in a world where even Anthony Fauci, but certainly our former president seemed to hold back information or color what they might say with consideration to how their words may effect this or that group. I invite you to listen to the past Daily episodes and see how right Donald G. McNeil Jr. got this incredibly difficult story. He represented a journalistic ethic where he didn’t even vote so his sources could trust him. It doesn’t excuse his issues — but it’s a case for composting.

As for those journalists in the newsroom — I don’t know if some of you considered how the next time(probably next week), without any due process, the angry mob will come for you. You weakened an institution and you continue to weaken our country by not figuring out how to properly handle your patriarchy or your workplace issues. You now know your management does not have your back and as you report things or take sources lives in confidence, who has the backbone to stand up for you in the event that something sounds a bit off or somehow — you make a mistake?

We should compost all of you as well! The sooner the better.

Don’t recycle in these cases, that doesn’t work. Too much energy wasted for the net benefit. Throwing away just adds to the landfills of former media people who will write books and plot their comeback stories. Lets COMPOST.

Green bins can be found all the way up and down 8th Avenue — in front of the fancy $20 burger place.

Thank you for doing your part.