‘I FAILED’

‘Daily’ Host Apologizes After Public Radio Stations Blast New York Times

Michael Barbaro apologized for DMing critics of the New York Times’ Caliphate podcast.

The host of The New York Times’ popular podcast The Daily apologized following criticism from listeners and a number of public radio stations over his handling of criticism of the paper’s Caliphate podcast. As part of the Times’ mea culpa in December over major flaws in Caliphate, Daily host Michael Barbaro interviewed executive editor Dean Baquet about errors in the podcast, and what went wrong. But privately, he did not appear to react well to criticism of Caliphate, pressuring some prominent journalists to pull back criticism of the podcast. The behind-the-scenes moves spurred over 20 public radio stations which rebroadcast The Daily to condemn its host for appearing to reject criticism.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Saturday, Barbaro said he should not have blocked and direct-messaged critics. “Both of these actions delivered the wrong message: that questions and criticism weren’t welcome. I should not have done either. At a moment when I should have been open to examining our shortcomings and hearing out those who had concerns, I failed. I’m sorry.”

Saturday's statement did not address concerns that some public radio stations had about producer Andy Mills, who co-created Caliphate and appeared on The Daily shortly after the Baquet interview.