Business Insider’s parent company is divided over the magazine’s recent article about plagiarism allegations against businessman Bill Ackman’s wife.
Ackman led the effort to expel former Harvard University president Claudine Gay over plagiarism accusations amid campus controversy over Israel and Gaza. Last week, Business Insider reported that his wife, Neri Oxman, had plagiarized parts of his doctoral thesis.
Semaphore has learned that the report has caused deep divisions within the upper echelons of BI’s German owner, Axel Springer. Some company executives are debating whether Mr. Ackman’s wife is appropriate for the report, worried that the report could be interpreted as anti-Semitic or anti-Zionist. (Oxman was born and raised in Israel.)
In a statement to Semaphore, Axel Springer spokesperson Adib al-Sissani said that while the facts of the BI report are not in dispute, in recent days “questions have been raised about the motives and process that led to the report.” “This is happening and we are questioning it.” Very seriously. Although our media brands operate independently, all Axel Springer publications are committed to journalism that meets rigorous editorial standards and processes. ”
“We will be reviewing our processes around these stories over the next few days to ensure our standards and journalistic values are upheld,” he said.
