In the wake of widespread backlash against its profile of a Nazi sympathizer, The New York Times said on Sunday it regrets offending readers and defended elements of the story criticized as normalizing white extremism. “Our reporter and his editors agonized over the tone and content of the article,” Times national editor Marc Lacey wrote in a response to readers. The portrait of the “Nazi sympathizer next door” and his hatred for Jews, admiration for Adolf Hitler and belief in racial segregation is told against the backdrop of him cooking pasta at home, contemplating his honeymoon and enjoying “Seinfeld” ― all details critics say inadvertently normalized people like Hovater. In its response, the Times said some saw the value in using those details to show how easy it is for the average American to adopt such radical views. “People mad about this article want to believe that Nazis are monsters we cannot relate to,” the Times quoted from Mother Jones reporter Shane Bauer’s tweet.

Source: Huffington Post November 26, 2017 21:45 UTC