The New York Times fires Baghdad chief Jane Arraf for overpaying Iraqi journalists

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – According to Semafor, the New York Times sacked Baghdad bureau director Jane Arraf for reportedly utilizing the paper’s cash to pay non-US journalists, including local Iraqi journalists, a policy that has generated tension in the New York Times’ overseas offices.

This is the second time in five years that the New York Times has sacked a Baghdad bureau director, which has sparked outrage among Middle Eastern personnel.

According to The Wrap’s sources, the contentious $150 per day wage cap for non-US journalists will be implemented, which sparked disagreements among some of the paper’s Middle Eastern personnel. Iraqi journalists employed for the New York Times are included in this list.

According to Semafor, Arraf, a well-known and respected veteran of Middle East reporting, strongly denied that her spending as the head of the Baghdad bureau was unlawful.

Semafor also claimed that Arraf resisted the cuts, even speculating that the New York Times could have broken local Iraqi law.

Arraf, who is Palestinian and Canadian, started working for CNN’s Iraq desk in 1998 and joined the New York Times in 2020.

From earlier decades to the present, many Iraqi journalists have taken risks with their lives to cover stories for the public on anything from war violence to extremists to corruption in Iraq.