A lot of mainstream reporters seem to believe that if a story fits with their preconceived opinions, there is no need to check the facts.
Not only was the Times taken in, as reported previously, by a hoaxer who claimed to be the guy in "the" Abu Graib picture (they just took his word for it), but get a load of this correction they had to run:
An article in The Metro Section on March 8 profiled Donna Fenton, identifying her as a 37-year-old victim of Hurricane Katrina who had fled Biloxi, Miss., and who was frustrated in efforts to get federal aid as she and her children remained as emergency residents of a hotel in Queens.
Yesterday, the New York police arrested Ms. Fenton, charging her with several counts of welfare fraud and grand larceny. Prosecutors in Brooklyn say she was not a Katrina victim, never lived in Biloxi and had improperly received thousands of dollars in government aid. Ms. Fenton has pleaded not guilty.
For its profile, The Times did not conduct adequate interviews or public record checks to verify Ms. Fenton's account, including her claim that she had lived in Biloxi. Such checks would have uncovered a fraud conviction and raised serious questions about the truthfulness of her account.
Today's MSM: caveat emptor. Will any reporter be fired for this?
