'NYT' Public Editor: Most Feedback on Kidnapping 'Blackout' Critical -- Writes Column About It

By: Joe Strupp Public Editor Clark Hoyt of The New York Times said most of the reader feedback he has received on the Times' (and other media outlets) suppression of reporter David Rohde's kidnapping has been critical.

"I am not sure I knew what to expect," Hoyt said Thursday. "A lot of the comments I read were what you would expect -- does the media have a double standard on this?"

Rohde is the reporter kidnapped in Afghanistan in November, whose abduction was not reported by major news outlets at the Times' request. He escaped with his translator nearly two weeks ago, prompting the Times to report on the abduction and the media blackout, which drew both support and criticism.

The two made an emotional appearance in the Times' newsroom in Manhattan yesterday.

Hoyt said he is writing a column about the situation for Sunday, but declined to offer his specific views on how the Times handled the situation.

"I don't want to say yet how I am going to come out on it," he said, adding that it is a worthwhile issue to write about in his column because "I have heard from readers about it and there is a debate in the journalism community about it."

Hoyt said he has spoken to Rohde about what occurred, but declined to elaborate on the conversation.