NPR panned again after apology for 'causing harm' with tweet on Michelle Wu becoming Boston mayor

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NPR apologized and deleted a tweet Tuesday promoting its widely panned story about "disappointment" for some activists over Asian-American Michelle Wu becoming the first person of color to win a Boston mayoral election, saying it was "causing harm."

But the tweet simply matched the opening paragraph of the story about how "many in Boston" hoped the city would elect its first Black mayor in 2021, and some were left "disappointed" and "troubled" that a city with a racist history had yet to do so. The acting mayor until Wu's victory, Kim Janey, is Black but was not elected; she inherited the position this year after Marty Walsh left the job to become Labor Secretary.

"Michelle Wu – who's Asian American — is the first woman and first person of color elected to lead the city. While many are hailing it as a major turning point, others see it as more of a disappointment that the three Black candidates in the race couldn't even come close," NPR reported.

Michelle Wu addresses the room after she is sworn-in as Mayor, becoming the first woman and first person of color elected to the office, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., November 16, 2021. (REUTERS/Faith Ninivaggi)

Its tweet matched those sentences nearly word for word, leading to sharp backlash across the political spectrum. Critics lashed out at the taxpayer-funded, liberal outlet for its fixation on race and its apparent creation of a racial hierarchy of which milestones were more meaningful than others. 

NPR SLAMMED OVER STORY HIGHLIGHTING ‘DISAPPOINTMENT’ OVER BOSTON ELECTING ASIAN WOMAN MAYOR

NPR tweeted, "We realize we don't always get things right the first time, and our previous tweet/headline misrepresented the story. We deleted the previous tweet, which was causing harm, and have updated the story." It also changed the headline from "Cheers and some letdown as 1st elected woman and person of color becomes Boston Mayor" to "Why Boston will need to wait longer for its 1st elected Black mayor."

Already under fire for the story, which also aired on its daily radio program "Morning Edition," NPR didn't get points for its attempt at damage control.

"NPR harmed people with its previous tweet," journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote, while the Media Research Center's Dan Gainor condemned NPR as racist and called for its defunding.

Reason's Robby Soave and others noted the tweet was the "entire premise" of the article.

Former Boston Mayor Kim Janey cheers on the athletes as they finish the 125th Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., October 11, 2021. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

The article spent much of its length documenting somber reactions to Wu’s victory, with one interviewee admitting they "cried [their] eyes out" because they didn’t know the next time they would see a Black mayor in the city. 

Another interviewee told NPR that they were "let down" by Wu’s win, but was "not surprised" that the Black candidates were unable to emerge victorious.

"It's just one of those things where it feels like what else is new?" she told NPR.

Wu, a former city council member, is the first woman and person of color elected to lead Boston. Born and raised in Chicago, Wu graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School before being unanimously chosen to serve on the Boston City Council at 28 years old. She defeated fellow Democrat Essaibi George, who identifies as Arab American, in the general election after they were the top two finishers in the nonpartisan primary. 

Washington DC USA, May 5,2011. Facade of the National Public Radio (NPR) headquarters building.

Jansen and two other Black candidates competed unsuccessfully in the primary to reach the top two.

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Fox News' Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.