The Times and Iraq
www.nytimes.com
Published: May 26, 2004
Over the last year this newspaper has shone the bright light of hindsight on decisions that led the United States into Iraq. It is past time we turned the same light on ourselves.
In doing so we have found a number of instances of coverage that was not as rigorous as it should have been. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims as new evidence emerged - or failed to emerge.
The problematic articles varied in authorship and subject matter, but many shared a common feature. They depended at least in part on information from a circle of Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on "regime change" in Iraq, people whose credibility has come under increasing public debate in recent weeks. Administration officials now acknowledge that they sometimes fell for misinformation from these exile sources. So did many news organizations - in particular, this one.
Some critics of our coverage during that time have focused blame on individual reporters. Our examination, however, indicates that the problem was more complicated. Editors at several levels who should have been challenging reporters and pressing for more skepticism were perhaps too intent on rushing scoops into the paper. Accounts of Iraqi defectors were not always weighed against their strong desire to have Saddam Hussein ousted. Articles based on dire claims about Iraq tended to get prominent display, while follow-up articles that called the original ones into question were sometimes buried. In some cases, there was no follow-up at all.
Here at Muskrat News we have to admit that we have made similar mistakes. In particular, our series of articles "Jim Hightower: Lush, Cheat, and Thief" may have been flawed by over-reliance on a single source, his soon-to-be-ex wife Arlene. The first article, "Local Businessman in Drunken Tryst With Shameless Hussy," was based entirely on one answering-machine message from Mrs. Hightower, and in retrospect we should at least have called the Persian Carpet Motel to verify whether the blue El Dorado in the parking lot Wednesday was in fact Hightower's.
Similarly, our story "Local Adulterer Spends Kids' College Fund on Booze, Floozy" failed to reflect the sharp divisions among local intelligence officials (AKA the Muskelunge County Senior Center Bridge Club regulars) over whether Hightower had in fact been spotted at the same ATM twice in one day, and the lack of any evidence that the money had been spent on "cheap French wine and that even cheaper secretary of his."
Finally, although we did print a follow-up story that clarified that Hightower's recent trip to Cleveland was to attend a compulsory meeting at the home office of Tangent Financial services, and not to "publicly disgrace his family by making an ass of his 50-year old self with Mitzi Williams," the followup story should have run on page 1, as the original had, not in the lower-left column of the classified ads page. It should also have been in type larger than the 6-point pica we use for classifieds. Plus it should have been in English.
Some critics of our coverage during that time have focused blame on individual reporters. Our examination, however, indicates that the problem was more complicated. Editors at several levels who should have been challenging reporters and pressing for more skepticism were perhaps too intent on rushing scoops into the paper in order to get to happy hour before "Triple Margarita Night" ended. Accounts of Mrs. Hightower were not always weighed against her history of espresso abuse and caffeine-induced suggestibility, nor her desire to see Mr. Hightower "run out of town like the vermin he is."
Finally, there is no evidence that Mr. Hightower has ever manufactured nerve gas, sought to develop nuclear weapons, or that he ever invaded Kuwait, either alone or in the compnay of "that skank, Doris."
Remember, Kids, the part in bold is actual 100% news-flavored media product.
The rest is the fakey part.
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