Six college students, five from Ireland and one holding Irish and U.S. citizenship, were killed 16 June in Berkeley, California, when the fifth floor apartment balcony where they were partying collapsed and plunged them 50 feet to the ground.

Extensive reporting in The Irish Times. Coverage from The New York Times. 

The NYT quickly came under fire for this second paragraph in its story:

But the work-visa program that allowed for the exchanges has in recent years become not just a source of aspiration, but also a source of embarrassment for Ireland, marked by a series of high-profile episodes involving drunken partying and the wrecking of apartments in places like San Francisco and Santa Barbara.

The paper quickly issued an explanation, if not an apology, but that didn’t satisfy Irish government minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. He tweeted:

.@nytimes Your attempt at an apology for your offensive #Berkeley article is pathetic. It’s clearly futile appealing to your better nature.

These are “valid complaints,” wrote NYT public editor Margaret Sullivan.