An internal email passed around in the Wall Street Journal newsroom on Tuesday, caused some disquiet among employees as well as the journalistic community in the United States.
Editor-in-Chief Gerry Baker sent out a directive saying:
He was referring to the publication’s choice of terminology when talking about US President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban.
Baker elaborated saying:
Trump’s order places a ban on members of seven ‘Muslim majority’ countries – Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia – though the administration has stoically maintained that the order is not a “Muslim ban”.
During his campaign, the President had openly called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims” until US authorities could “figure out what is going on.” So, an order of this nature, two weeks into his Presidency, is unlikely to be a coincidence.
A Journal spokesperson later clarified saying:
According to Politico, the past few months has seen dissonances among reporters and editors in the Journal newsroom over Baker’s handling of Trump’s coverage. Some find the coverage to be vanilla and soft compared to the publication’s competitors.
The news of this email left Twitterati angry and disillusioned with WSJ’s coverage.
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