NY Times stands by new hire Sarah Jeong over Twitter furor

NEW YORK - Associated Press

The New York Times is reaffirming its support for new hire Sarah Jeong after social media criticism of her tweets from several years ago that were derogatory of white people.

Both the paper and Jeong have issued Twitter statements saying the comments were Jeong’s response to online harassment she had been receiving, but that she regrets her language.

The paper announced Wednesday it was hiring Jeong, a tech writer, to join its editorial board.

Soon after, mainly conservative social media took issue with the tweets which seem to date to 2013 and 2014, and include statements like "Oh man, it’s kind of sick how much joy I get out of being cruel to old white men."

The Times says it reviewed Jeong’s social media during its vetting process.