A New York Times journalist, fresh out of college, reported a wild incident at work involving a heated argument with his boss. This new guy, Rob Copeland, claimed that his editor, Ellen Pollock, made a “death threat” during a dispute over a story. Apparently, things got super intense when they were working on an article about Harvard University and the Trump administration.
So, like, tensions were running high between Copeland and Pollock as they were getting ready to publish this hard-hitting piece about Harvard’s response to allegations of antisemitism by the Trump administration. The story was co-written by Copeland, Maureen Farrell, and Michael S. Schmidt, all big shots at the Times.
During a meeting in the office, Pollock lost her cool and started yelling at Copeland for not following her instructions. The yelling went on for hours, which sounds pretty exhausting if you ask me. And get this, Pollock supposedly said that if the article went over 2,000 words, she would “kill” Copeland, another editor, and then herself.
Rumors started flying around the newsroom that there was talk of guns and “shooting” during the meeting, but it turns out those were just rumors. People who know Pollock well say that she has a quirky sense of humor and that her comments to Copeland were just jokes. But Copeland didn’t find it funny at all. He immediately filed a complaint against Pollock for violating HR policies.
After the whole ordeal, Copeland was told to take a break from work to cool off, but he decided to tough it out. Pollock eventually apologized for her outburst. And guess what? The final article ended up being longer than Pollock’s word limit, coming in at 2,282 words.
The story, titled “As Harvard Is Hailed a Hero, Some Donors Still Want It to Strike a Deal,” featured big names like Jared Kushner, Bill Ackman, Larry Summers, and Condoleezza Rice. The article was published on April 22 and caused quite a stir in the newspaper world.
The Times released a statement saying they are all about creating a positive work environment and take these kinds of issues seriously. But let’s be real, this whole situation sounds like a total mess. Who knew journalism could be so dramatic, right?
As a new journalist, I’m not really sure why this matters, but it’s definitely an interesting story to follow. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like there’s more to this story than meets the eye. All I know is that working at the New York Times sounds like a rollercoaster ride of emotions. But hey, that’s journalism for you.
