- The New York Times on Friday said it was "unfair" to US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley in a recent story and made significant changes to the story.
- The article's original headline suggested she purchased expensive curtains for her office, but that was incorrect.
- The curtains were purchased by the State Department under the Obama administration.
- The changes to the story came after a significant amount of criticism leveled against the publication on social media.
The New York Times on Friday said it was "unfair" to US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley in an article and made significant changes to the story after a barrage of criticism.
The article's original headline suggested Haley purchased costly curtains for her official residence, but they were in fact acquired by the State Department under the Obama administration. The headline said, "Nikki Haley's View of New York is Priceless. Her Curtains? $52,701."
An editors' note was added to the article on Friday afternoon, and the title was changed to "State Department Spent $52,701 on Curtains for Nikki Haley's Residence."
The editors' note also apologized for using an image of Haley for the article.
"An earlier version of this article and headline created an unfair impression about who was responsible for the purchase in question," the note read. "While Nikki R. Haley is the current ambassador to the United Nations, the decision on leasing the ambassador's residence and purchasing the curtains was made during the Obama administration, according to current and former officials."
The note added: "The article should not have focused on Ms. Haley, nor should a picture of her have been used."
The changes came after a significant amount of criticism leveled against the paper on social media.
President Donald Trump has taken frequent aim at the Times, accusing it of bias toward him and his administration.
The president's son Donald Trump Jr. was particularly critical of the Haley story and on Friday called for a correction in a tweet.
"Except it was Obama's State Dept. Will you print a correction or just leave it as is because you want it to be true???" he wrote.
Haley, for her part, didn't comment on the episode. But she did retweet a Times account's tweet announcing the addition of the editors' note.
Misleading headline. Few are reading past the first couple grafs. And now most of Twitter thinks @nikkihaley is like Pruitt or Price when she's not. How irresponsible. Read the whole story. Also the rent is less expensive than previous admins https://t.co/XpeZzi2wg9
- Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 14, 2018
This seems like a pretty important paragraph that we should get to the bottom of before calling them "Nikki Haley's $52,000 curtains" https://t.co/2RfJkFqvch pic.twitter.com/AZOJwsofwS
- Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) September 14, 2018
Shocking! Weird how it won't get coverage now. The $52,000 curtains for Nikki Haley's office were bought by Obama's State Department, not Trump's https://t.co/GbrlKKp7Yc
- Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 14, 2018
How Media bias works:
Step 1: Blame your target (Nikki Haley) for something they didn't do in the title.
Step 2: Bury the truth (that Obama did it) 4 paragraphs in the article where you know most people won't read. pic.twitter.com/zlbWhUSvS9
- Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) September 14, 2018