For the Times, the truth matters -- at least if it's trivial

Another day, another corrections column, and still no acknowledgment that a story about Hillary Clinton was wrong.

Published July 18, 2006 1:03PM (EDT)

When an obituary in the New York Times says that novelist Muriel Spark died on April 13 -- when she really died on April 14 -- well, that kind of mistake requires some extensive research and warrants a correction.

When a sports story in the New York Times says that the Minnesota Twins' Francisco Liriano pitched five innings of no-hit baseball -- when really he pitched five and one-third innings of no-hit baseball -- well, that kind of error can't go uncorrected, either.

And when a story in the New York Times about legislation on Internet gambling says a particular wagering contest involves predicting a 56-game hitting streak -- when really the contest involves picking players who are going to hit on each of 56 days -- well, it's time to lay yourself at the mercy of the readers with a full explanation of the error in your ways.

But when a headline and the lead of a story provide a fundamentally and demonstrably false account of something Hillary Clinton said? Well, let's just say we're two days of correction opportunity into this thing, and the New York Times has still said not a word.


By Tim Grieve

Tim Grieve is a senior writer and the author of Salon's War Room blog.

MORE FROM Tim Grieve


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2006 Elections Hillary Rodham Clinton The New York Times War Room