Activist and Yale epidemiology Professor Gregg Gonsalves called out several New York Times reporters for “journalistic malpractice” in their reporting of President Donald Trump’s recent comments on coronavirus testing, and was dismissed by one Times scribe who told him to “move along.”

On Tuesday morning, Gonsalves tagged NYT reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin in a tweet lashing out at an article they co-authored with Mike Baker entitled “Trump Suggests Lack of Testing Is No Longer a Problem. Governors Disagree.”

The report detailed recent comments by Trump that he hadn’t heard about problems with testing recently, and the governors who “disagree” — or rather, agree with members of Trump’s own task force who say testing is not yet sufficient.

“This is journalistic malpractice. If we don’t have scale-up of testing, we will be in lock-down for months & months. There is no debate on this, why frame it like there is one? Next: Trump says earth flat, scientists say otherwise,” the professor wrote.

This is journalistic malpractice. If we don’t have scale-up of testing, we will be in lock-down for months & months. There is no debate on this, why frame it like there is one? Next: Trump says earth flat, scientists say otherwise. @jmartNYT & @maggieNYT https://t.co/T8OFxwITef — Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves) March 31, 2020



That tweet drew a rebuke from Martin, who wrote “you’re picking the wrong fight, move along”.

you’re picking the wrong fight, move along — Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) March 31, 2020

Prof. Gonsalves, a MacArthur fellow, did move along — into a thorough evisceration of the paper’s coronavirus political coverage.

From @peterbakernyt now infamous hot take of @realDonaldTrump as he “struggles to find the balance between public reassurance and Panglossian dismissiveness” your collective reporting on the political aspects of this have been off-the-mark. 2/ — Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves) March 31, 2020

There is tremendous reporting going on on the pandemic, but it’s from places like @statnews or @propublica who take their task with a bit more seriousness than your political reporters. 4/ — Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves) March 31, 2020

So, get better. Tell us, why 4 months into this we STILL have insufficient number of tests–what happened politically that led us to this point, keeps us still incapable of rising to the task. 6/ — Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves) March 31, 2020

There are political stories abounding in this world-historical crisis and you surrender to the he-said-she-said variety of reporting, every time. 8/ — Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves) March 31, 2020

I buried dozens of my friends during the height of the AIDS epidemic and we’re all preparing for burials now of friends and family in this new pandemic. Don’t you dare tell me to move on. 10/ — Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves) March 31, 2020

Stop the transcription of press conferences, calls as the news in and of itself. Go deeper. Explain how current American politics led to this epidemiological and economic calamity, and how our leaders are or are not rising to the challenge. 12/ — Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves) March 31, 2020

You may lose your access to certain prized sources inside the White House, the invitations to the best parties in DC, but you’ll gain the respect of your readers and rescue your reputations from the disdain of history. end/ — Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves) March 31, 2020

According to (checks notes) Jonathan Martin of The New York Times, Gonsalves is correct, as Martin’s reporting clearly states “Many people who have symptoms of the virus are still finding it difficult to be tested, and many who have been tested are waiting more than a week to get results.”

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