The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
Bottom Stories of the Day
- “Levi Johnston Not Running for Mayor”–headline, Politico.com, Aug. 23
- “Katie Couric’s New Talk Show to Be Called ‘Katie’ “–headline, CNN.com, Aug. 23
- “Atheist Richard Dawkins Blasts Catholic Church”–headline, USA Today website, Aug. 20
Other Than That, the Story Was Accurate
This lengthy correction appeared in the New York Times Friday:
An article on Aug. 15 about Representative Darrell Issa’s business dealings, using erroneous information that Mr. Issa’s family foundation filed with the Internal Revenue Service, referred incorrectly to his sale of an AIM mutual fund in 2008. A spokesman for the California Republican now says that the I.R.S. filing is “an incorrect document.” The spokesman, Frederick R. Hill, said that based on Mr. Issa’s private brokerage account records, which he made public with redactions, the purchase of the mutual fund resulted in a $125,000 loss, not a $357,000 gain.
And the article, using incorrect information from the San Diego county assessor’s office, misstated the purchase price for a medical office plaza Mr. Issa’s company bought in Vista, Calif., in 2008. It cost $16.3 million, the assessor’s office now says–not $10.3 million–because the assessor mistakenly omitted in public records a $6 million loan Mr. Issa’s company assumed in the acquisition. Therefore the value of the property remained essentially unchanged, and did not rise 60 percent after Mr. Issa secured federal funding to widen a road alongside the plaza.
FoxNews.com quotes Dean Baquet, the Times’s Washington bureau chief: “The article was carefully reported, written, and edited, and we stand by the story both in its broad thrust and, except as noted, in its particular details.”
“Except as noted” may be the new “fake but accurate.”
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below ”Today’s Columnists.
