After publishing Inga Saffron’s “Buildings Matter, Too,” article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Stan Wischnowski faced backlash online and around his workplace.
The editors quickly distanced themselves from Wischnowski. The editors revised the headline and offered a public apology issued.
The Philadelphia Inquirer published a headline in Tuesday’s edition that was deeply offensive. We should not have printed it. We’re sorry, and regret that we did. We also know that an apology on its own is not sufficient.
“An apology to our readers and Inquirer employees,” by Inquirer Editors, June, 3 2020. See article here.
In open letter To the leadership of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the journalists of color at the Inquirer voiced their frustration over this an other controversial headlines and articles.
We’re tired of hasty apologies and silent corrections when someone screws up. We’re tired of workshops and worksheets and diversity panels. We’re tired of working for months and years to gain the trust of our communities — communities that have long had good reason to not trust our profession — only to see that trust eroded in an instant by careless, unempathetic decisions.
44 people signed this letter and about 40 employees called in sick to protest the recent headline. The editors blamed Wischnowski who tendered his resignation immediately.
