New York Times Slams Irish Student Visa Program as 'Source of Embarrassment' — #BerkeleyBalconyCollapse

A "drunken" source of embarrassment at that.

Stereotype much?

Maybe they could've waited a few days to push, ahem, a hard-hitting piece about the J-1 visa program? Well, no.

The piece slams the student visa program in general, but the writers are so tone deaf it's sickening.

See, "Deaths of Irish Students in Berkeley Balcony Collapse Cast Pall on Program":

BERKELEY, Calif. — They come by the thousands — Irish students on work visas, many flocking to the West Coast to work in summer jobs by day and to enjoy the often raucous life in a college town at night. It was, for many, a rite of passage, one last summer to enjoy travel abroad before beginning a career.

But the work-visa program that allowed for the exchanges has in recent years become not just a source of aspiration, but also a source of embarrassment for Ireland, marked by a series of high-profile episodes involving drunken partying and the wrecking of apartments in places like San Francisco and Santa Barbara.

Early Tuesday, 13 people, most of them young Irish students here on the visa program, were crowded onto a fourth-floor balcony off Unit 405 for what neighbors described as a loud party when the balcony collapsed, sending people tumbling onto the street below.

Six people were killed; five were Irish and the sixth had dual Irish-American citizenship, according to the Irish Embassy. Three of the dead were men, three were women, and all were in their 20s. At least seven others suffered injuries, some serious...

And see the Guardian UK, "New York Times apologizes to Ireland for ‘insensitive’ ​balcony collapse story":

Sincere sympathy to all affected by #Berkeley tragedy. Please know that I am aware of reaction and will look into it today.

— Margaret Sullivan (@Sulliview) June 17, 2015

The New York Times apologized on Wednesday after a story about a balcony collapse in California that left five of Ireland’s citizens dead was denounced by the country’s government officials.

The article said that students traveling to Berkeley, California on J-1 visas, like those that died in the collapse, were “not just a source of aspiration, but also a source of embarrassment for Ireland”.

The tone of the piece inspired widespread condemnation from a country reeling from the deaths of the five young people, all aged 21 or 22. One person with dual US-Irish citizenship also died.

“It was never our intention to blame the victims and we apologize if the piece left that impression,” said New York Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy in an email.

The students in Berkeley were celebrating a 21st birthday when the apartment balcony collapsed. Six people died in the incident and seven others were injured.

The New York Times article was “intended to explain in greater detail why these young Irish students were in the US”, said Murphy. “We understand and agree that some of the language in the piece could be interpreted as insensitive, particularly in such close proximity to this tragedy.”

Anne Anderson, the Irish ambassador to the US, said that language used in the article was “insensitive and inaccurate” in a public letter to the New York Times editor.

“No one yet knows what caused the collapse of the fourth-floor balcony; the matter is under urgent investigation by structural engineers,” Anderson wrote. “The implication of your article – that the behaviour of the students was in some way a factor in the collapse – has caused deep offence.”

She said that it is “quite simply wrong” to portray the visa programme as a “source of embarrassment”.

“Yes, there have been isolated incidents of the type to which your article refers. But they are wholly unrepresentative: bear in mind that 150,000 young Irish people have participated in the J1 program over the past 50 years, and some 7,000 are here for Summer 2015,” she said. “From all the feedback we receive, we know that the overwhelming majority of our J1 participants behave in a way that does Ireland proud.”

Ireland’s junior minister for new communities, culture and equality, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, said on Twitter that the newspaper’s reporting about the collapse “is a disgrace”.

He also called the newspaper’s apology “pathetic”...''

.@nytimes Your newspaper's reporting of the #Berkeley tragedy is a disgrace.

— Aodhán Ó Ríordáin TD (@AodhanORiordain) June 17, 2015

.@nytimes Your attempt at an apology for your offensive #Berkeley article is pathetic. It's clearly futile appealing to your better nature.

— Aodhán Ó Ríordáin TD (@AodhanORiordain) June 17, 2015