A rare clash between news media outlets took place over the weekend: PBS News Hour co-anchor Geoff Bennett took to X Saturday morning to personally call out the New York Times for its “ghoulish” decision to publish a long, balanced piece on disgraced Cambridge professor Jason Arday, which eventually appeared on the front of Sunday’s edition, that called Arday "underqualified, by the school's own standards."
Arday died by his own hand on Friday, after resigning his Cambridge post in the face of mounting proof of academic plagiarism and a myriad of whoppers from his past (his claims to have been an ultra-marathon runner, victim of a pigs head delivery, former professional soccer player, former pro snooker player, etc.) that made his position untenable. This despite initial attempts by Cambridge University and the New York Times to smear his (accurate) accusers as racist and part of a “vile campaign to undermine his credibility.”
A man dies at 41 after weeks of relentless public scrutiny.
The New York Times, the next day: He was underqualified for his job.
Whatever the merits of the underlying questions, publishing this now is ghoulish. https://t.co/HtQCeQAlvM— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) August 15, 2026
Perhaps the Times' lead got Bennett riled?
When Cambridge University interviewed Jason Arday for one of the most prestigious sociology positions in the world, he was an early career scholar and underqualified, by the school’s own standards.
Regarding Bennett's characterization of the “relentless public scrutiny” of Arday, Bennett certainly can’t be accused of that. His PBS News Hour has yet to even air a mention of the Arday story, and its own record on respect for the recently deceased is mixed, especially the death of prominent conservatives.
Then-weekend anchor John Yang led off the News Hour’s December 31, 2022 story: “Catholics in mourning. Pope Emeritus XVI, whose controversial reign ended with his resignation, is dead at the age of 95.” Ghoulish?
Here’s Yang closing his report on the death of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney on November 4, 2025: “At peace also describes Cheney's feelings about the controversies that make up so much of his legacy.”
The New York Times apparently respected its fellow liberal media member Bennett enough to have publicly defended its reporting for a change, replying to him on X that “This is reporting about Cambridge University and its judgment calls as a major institution that has long been a model of excellence in academia. Arday’s death is a tragedy that provokes questions and demands answers. The role of the news media is to thoughtfully and carefully explore both."
