James C. McKinley, Jr.

James Courtright McKinley, Jr. is an American journalist for The New York Times, a position he has held since 1989.

Personal life

McKinley (born May 8, 1962) is a son of James C. McKinley, a retired professor and former editor of New Letters magazine, and Mary Ann McKinley.[1]

Jesse McKinley, one of McKinley's brothers, is also a reporter for the Times.[2] His sister, Molly McKinley, is a video and television editor in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[3] His youngest brother, Gabriel, is a playwright and comedian in New York. His wife is Stephanie Smothers;[4] he has two children, Miles, and Phoebe.

McKinley earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Cornell University in 1984 and attended the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 1985-1986.[5]

Career

He began his career in journalism while still in college, working for local radio stations in Ithaca and stringing for the The Syracuse Post Standard. In late 1986, he started at The New York Times as a copyboy eventually earning a spot on the staff. He covered the police department, city hall, and Federal courts in Manhattan before being named the Nairobi Bureau chief in 1995. In Nairobi, he covered the return of Rwandan refugees after the genocide, the fall of Mobutu, the rise of Laurent Kabila in the former Zaire, and the bombing of U.S. embassies.[5]

He returned to New York in 1999, working as an investigative journalist in the Sports Department then as a political reporter in the Albany Bureau between 2000 to 2004 where he covered the Pataki administration, the budget and dysfunction in the state legislature.[5] In 2004, he was named Mexico City Bureau chief, a position he held until 2008, covering the election of President Felipe Calderón and his government’s war against drug cartels.[5] He was Houston Bureau Chief between 2009 and 2012 and covered events such as the Fort Hood shootings, Hurricane Ike and the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf.[5] He then became the Times pop music reporter and returned to New York City.

Controversy

On March 8, 2011, The New York Times published an article[6] by McKinley on the rape of an eleven-year-old girl in the East Texas town of Cleveland. The story prompted outrage, not only because of the crime involved - a gang rape perpetrated by 18 boys and men - but also because of how McKinley framed[7] the piece. That framing included relying heavily on quotes from individuals who blamed the victim, scant attention to reporting details on the boys and men involved, and an overemphasis on the impoverished environment where the assault occurred.

On March 11, 2011, The New York Times' public editor Artur R. Brisbane wrote[8] that he found that the outrage was understandable. He agreed that the piece lacked critical balance by relying heavily on quotes from individuals who expressed concern for the perpetrators, as well as detailing the victim's appearance. McKinley and The New York Times, Brisbane determined, created an impression that the victim "had it coming". Brisbane never interviewed McKinley, nor his editors, before writing his column.

On March 29, 2011, the Times published a second article by McKinley and Erica Goode that delved more deeply into the criminal backgrounds of many of the alleged rapists as well as the family of the victim. The second article left no doubt the girl was the victim of a horrendous crime.[9]

Notes

  1. ↑ "McKinley Obituary". legacy.com. legacy.com. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: Jesse McKinley, NYT San Francisco Bureau Chief, Rumored To Replace Sam Sifton as Culture Editor.". the nytpicker. August 19, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Molly McKinley". Linkdin. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
  4. ↑ "Stephanie Smothers Profile". linkedin.com. linkedin. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "James C. McKinley Profile". linkedin. linkedin. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  6. ↑ McKinley Jr, James C. (March 8, 2011). "Gang Rape of Schoolgirl, and Arrests, Shake Texas Town". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ Peterson, Latoya. "New York Times, Houston Chronicle tell different stories of 11-year-old’s rape | Poynter". Poynter. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  8. ↑ Brisbane, Arthur S. (2011-03-11). "Gang Rape Story Lacked Balance - Arthur S. Brisbane - The Public Editor - NYTimes.com". Texas: Publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  9. ↑ McKinley, James C.; Goode, Erica (March 28, 2011). "3-Month Nightmare Emerges in Rape Inquiry". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
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