The New York Times published an article last month reporting on “conflict of interest questions” involving former Vice President Joe Biden and Ukraine. One of the authors of that Times report, Iuliia Mendel, now is the spokesperson for the president of Ukraine, Mediaite reported.
The Times‘ June 1 article was headlined “Biden Faces Conflict of Interest Questions That Are Being Promoted by Trump and Allies.”
Mendel announced her new job for the president of Ukraine in a June 3 tweet.
The Times told Fox News Mendel applied for the government job May 3 and wrote one article that they wouldn’t have assigned if they knew.
The Times‘ full statement sent to iMediaEthics:
“Iuliia Mendel was a freelance contributor to The New York Times based in Kiev, Ukraine.
“Last week, The Times learned that she had applied for a job as spokesperson to the President of Ukraine on May 3 and has now accepted this position.
“Ms. Mendel wrote one story for The Times in May while she was a candidate for the government position, about the dissolution of Parliament. Had she informed editors of her job application, they would not have given her that assignment and we would have stopped working with her immediately given this serious conflict of interest. All reporters, including freelance reporters, must abide by our ethical journalism guidelines.
“Editors are confident that despite the conflict that should have been disclosed, her reporting — including her work on our recent Hunter Biden story — was fair and accurate.
Back in late March, the Times published an article co-bylined by Mendel about Volodymyr Zelensky, her now boss, winning the first round of votes.
iMediaEthics asked the Times how it found out about Mendel’s application and if it will review any of Mendel’s work; the Times pointed to its above statement. We’ve also tweeted Mendel for more information.