The Propaganda FilesNYT Quietly Edits Its Tara Reade Story After Biden Campaign Complains
The Times' first major story on Tara Reade's allegation said its reporting found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Biden beyond the hugs, kisses and touching other women had described.
The unannounced edit, made at a campaign's request, softened coverage of the presumptive Democratic nominee.
What was reported
The Times' first major story on Tara Reade's allegation said its reporting found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Biden beyond the hugs, kisses and touching other women had described.
What actually happened
Soon after publication, the clause about hugs, kisses and touching was removed without an editor's note, and a Times tweet carrying the original wording was deleted. Executive editor Dean Baquet later told the paper's media columnist that the Biden campaign had objected that the phrasing implied other misconduct, and that the Times viewed it as awkward wording rather than a factual error.
The proof
Baquet's own on-the-record account confirmed the sentence was changed after the campaign's complaint, with no correction appended.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
NYT Quietly Edits Its Tara Reade Story After Biden Campaign Complains — Bad Call. Baquet's own on-the-record account confirmed the sentence was changed after the campaign's complaint, with no correction appended. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/nyt-tara-reade-stealth-edit/
Original reporting
- The New York Times: Examining Tara Reade's Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden (Apr. 12, 2020)https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/us/politics/joe-biden-tara-reade-sexual-assault-complaint.html
- Secondary: Reason write-up of the Times story, noting the unannounced edithttps://reason.com/2020/04/12/tara-reade-joe-biden-new-york-times-sexual-assault
Corrections, findings & records
- Mediaite: Baquet admits report was edited after Biden campaign complainedhttps://www.mediaite.com/print/nyt-editor-dean-baquet-admits-report-on-biden-allegation-was-edited-after-biden-campaign-complained
- iMediaEthics: NYTimes edits Joe Biden accusations articlehttps://www.imediaethics.org/nytimes-edits-joe-biden-accusations-article/
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: The New York Times: Examining Tara Reade's Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden (Apr. 12, 2020)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/us/politics/joe-biden-tara-reade-sexual-assault-complaint.html
- Archived copy: Secondary: Reason write-up of the Times story, noting the unannounced edithttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://reason.com/2020/04/12/tara-reade-joe-biden-new-york-times-sexual-assault