The New York Times Publishes Uniquely Bad Article On Bubble Tea, Is Forced To Apologize
The New York Times has taken a lot of heat today, and blessedly, it has nothing to do with Trump. An article published in the "Entrepreneurship" section of the business pages purported to introduce readers to bubble tea, also known as boba — a beverage that has been familiar to Asian and Asian-American readers for literally decades, and to many non-Asian consumers since at least the early 2000s.
Originally published under the headline "The Blobs In Your Tea? They're Supposed To Be There," the article initially described boba as "exotic," "alien," and "complicated":
A wave of first-timers had just arrived at the front counter, uncertain of the drill and even more about the boba tea drinks, which are relatively new to the mass market in the United States and which contain ingredients alien to most coffee addicts…
Complicated beverage trends have to begin somewhere. Remember the first time you went to a Starbucks, and had no idea what to do? These days, bubble tea, an Asian import, seems to be going through the same consumer learning curve, as entrepreneurs bring their exotic menus to malls and big American cities.
Predictably, the article drew widespread condemnation on Twitter for its condescending tone, othering language and very existence.
(Full disclosure: That last tweet is by Digg features editor Steve Rousseau, who is very funny.)
This afternoon, after hours of being dragged, business editor Ellen Pollock published a statement expressing "regret" for the article.
The reader complaints have merit. In retrospect, we wish we had approached the topic differently (if at all). There may be a story in the expansion of bubble tea businesses in the United States, but there is no denying the drink has been around for quite a while. And we regret the impression left by some of the original language in the article, which we have revised in light of the concerns.
Here's how the paragraph about "first-time customers" reads post-revision:
A wave of first-time customers had just arrived at the front counter, uncertain of the drill and even more about bubble tea, which has had a niche following in the United States for some time…
The paragraph about how "complicated" boba is has been deleted completely.
It's nice to remember that some people are capable of expressing regret when they mess up.
