NEW YORK POST PICKS GEPHARDT, KERRY PICKS EDWARDS
7 July 2004

The New York Post added a special lead to later editions of its paper yesterday, hoping to trump the journalistic world with an unlikely exclusive: they ran a full-page headlline naming Rep. Dick Gephardt (MO) Kerry's choice for vice-president. It was a monumental error, and rivals were quick to seize the opportunity to make hay. SentidoNews contacted the Post editorial staff for an explanation of how the error occurred, but received no response. [Full Story]

STATE DEPARTMENT PUBLISHES FLAWED TERROR DATA
13 June 2004

The US State Department has issued a report on the global terrorist threat, giving evidence of the rate of incidents occurring throughout the last year. The report has now been cited for publishing seriously flawed information. The Baltimore Sun explained it this way:

The State Department is scrambling to revise its annual report on global terrorism to acknowledge that it understated the number of deadly attacks in 2003, amid charges that the document is inaccurate, dangerously outmoded and politically manipulated by the Bush administration.

Allegations surrounding the latest incident of false administration reporting include that there was an effort to make it appear that terrorist incidents had decreased thanks to the war on terror and the war in Iraq. [Full Story]

MAINSTREAM MEDIA FAIL IN PUBLIC SERVICE
10 February 2004

The New York Review of Books has published an article criticizing the mainstream American media of failing to deliver professional reporting and accurate information to the public. The Review reports that "the 'intelligence community' was rent by bitter disputes over how Bush officials were using the data on Iraq. Many journalists knew about this, yet few chose to write about it." The article specifies that there was intense dispute over the legitimacy of information provided by defectors, who may have inflated their background and the degree of access they had to WMD programs.

NYRB goes on to say: "US journalists were far too reliant on sources sympathetic to the administration. Those with dissenting views—and there were more than a few—were shut out." [Full Story]

A MILITARY COUP REPORTED AS GOOD CITIZENSHIP
A LOOK BACK AT REPORTING OF THE APRIL 2002 COUP IN VENEZUELA
23 November 2003

When President Hugo Chavez was forced from power and sequestered by a faction of the Venezuelan military, The New York Times reported the matter as a decision by the President to resign. The "resignation" was welcomed as a sign that democracy was moving forward in Venezuela, and that its economy would no longer be threatened by a crouching dictator-in-wait. The fact that an elected official who had reportedly voluntarily turned over power was in the armed custody of coup leaders went unreported. In an editorial, they lauded the immediate military appointment of an oil chief, a political arch-rival, to replace Chavez, saying the president had "handed power to a respected business leader." [Full Story]

JFK "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy":
A Prismatic View of Media Variation
22 November 2003

Four decades have passed since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. There is still no definitive story that lets the public in on the truth of the matter. Long discredited by eye-witness testimony and forensic evidence, the Warren Commission is now believed to be false by 68% of Americans (ABC News poll). But are major news sources reporting fact or fiction when the question is again opened, for occasions such as this, the 40th anniversary of the JFK assassination? [Full Story]

Forthright Corrections Reporting & Error Reversal:

• Salon.com maintains an archive of its corrections, covering stories years back which may have faded into obscurity for most readers: Salon.com Corrections Archive
• National Public Radio maintains a Corrections Archive, listing "significant errors", and publishes its corrections in "audio archives, written transcripts and on the Web site": NPR Corrections Archive
• The New York Times publishes its corrections for the past week online (this method may have less value for researchers who would prefer to find a list of back-dated corrections and explanations for the like in one concise source for each publication)