Calls For NBC Editor To Step Down After Violating Ebola Quarantine
An NBC medical correspondent is being called to step down from her job after it was revealed that she disobeyed a 21-day Ebola quarantine.
Dr. Nancy Snyderman, chief medical editor at NBC News, was ordered to undergo a 21-day Ebola quarantine after briefly working with Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance cameraman working for NBC who came down with the virus while filming the epidemic in Liberia.
Snyderman released an apology after it was revealed that she went out in public during her quarantine period. She and other members of her crew were reportedly spotted purchasing soup at a New Jersey restaurant.
Now that Snyderman has completed her quarantine, there are some viewers who are suggesting her actions during the Ebola quarantine discredit her medical expertise, and she should be fired from NBC and lose her medical license.
Kelly McBride with the journalist think tank Poynter Institute told the Associated Press that many believe Snyderman's "arrogance and dismissiveness" caused her to go out in public during her quarantine.
"People are so freaked out about Ebola that the problem NBC has now is that whenever they put her on the air, some news consumers are going to see the woman who put others at risk, rather than the reporter and professional with great experience," McBride added.
When it was revealed that Snyderman disobeyed her quarantine, the medical expert released a statement apologizing to the public for being careless.
"While under voluntary quarantine guidelines, which called for our team to avoid public contact for 21 days, members of our group violated those guidelines and understand that our quarantine is now mandatory until 21 days have passed. We remain healthy and our temperatures are normal," Snyderman said in the statement.
"As a health professional I know that we have no symptoms and pose no risk to the public, but I am deeply sorry for the concerns this episode caused. We are thrilled that Ashoka is getting better and our thoughts continue to be with the thousands affected by Ebola whose stories we all went to cover."
