Wannabe Pundit: Part IV

The Stiletto Blog ^ | July 20, 2007

[theothercheek]

In Wednesday’s edition of "Best of the Web Today" (BOTWT), James Taranto takes The Associated Press to task for its "accountability journalism" approach being a "departure from its old-fashioned just-the-facts style of journalism."

Taranto also seizes upon this quote by Newsweek assistant managing editor Evan Thomas in an article published in American Journalism Review about coverage of the Duke "rape" case: "We just got the facts wrong. The narrative was right, but the facts were wrong."

"The narrative was right, but the facts were wrong." This is reminiscent of the "fake but accurate" defense of CBS's Bush National Guard hoax. If Thomas were giving a plainer account of what happened, he would have said something like this: Our reporting was guided by our prejudices, and even though the story turned out to be false, we stand behind our prejudices.

Here’s a flash from the newsroom, Taranto: It’s also reminiscent of that June 15^th article in the New York Sun written by your wannabe pundit, which Harvard professor Jessica Stern has stated - on the record - completely fabricated quotes attributed to her.

If you were to give your readers a plain account of what happened, you would have said something like this: The reporting of my wannabe pundit was guided by her prejudices, and even though the story turned out to be false I stand behind her prejudices because I don’t want to end up in the dog house.

Can’t you understand that until you correct the record on Stern’s quotes in BOTWT and come clean about the conflict of interest that has compromised you and your column, you have lost the moral authority and professional credibility to question the ethics or standards of other journalists and news organizations? Instead of worrying about how The Associated Press practices "accountability journalism," worry about your own accountability.