NYC Radio: WNYC Retracts News Stories From Website

Gothamist, the news site of the New York public radio station WNYC, deleted four articles in the last week of October, replacing each one with an editor’s note, reports The NYTimes.

“After publishing this story, WNYC found it contained unattributed words or phrases,” each note said. “We have decided to retract this article and are investigating the editing process that led to this mistake.”

The articles, published between March and September, were written by Jami Floyd, a lawyer and former local host of the National Public Radio news program “All Things Considered” who was also a senior editor of WNYC’s race and justice unit.

The retracted articles, which are available on the Internet Archive and carry Ms. Floyd’s byline, used language from Wikipedia entries and articles in Salon and The New York Times without credit, according to a comparison of the pieces and the original sources.

In a statement this week, Ms. Floyd acknowledged “mistakes,” saying they were “never intentional or designed to deceive anyone.”

In a Zoom videoconference of WNYC employees last week, a recording of which was shared with The Times, Audrey Cooper, the station’s editor in chief, said that the retracted articles “did not meet our editorial standards.”

Ms. Cooper added that there had been “serious consequences” for the lapse, but did not elaborate or identify the author of the articles, according to three people who were present for the meeting.

During the same Zoom meeting, Ms. Cooper announced that she was reassigning Ms. Floyd. Instead of editing and writing, she would recruit employees, mentor staff members and lead events, among other duties.