"A week ago, the Herald ran a story which, in its essence, was not true. The paper did not know this. It was the unwitting victim of a distortion created at The Washington Post, which produced the original story. The Herald's headline, which reflected the story, said: ''Right-wing 'lies' force Obama adviser out''."
While I'm glad to see them calling the left wing Washington Post out on the Post's "lies", it's ridiculous to claim they were an "unwitting victim". Van Jones was outed by a blogger using Google. If the SMH can't do as well it's time to get out of the business. If they're smart, and it's doubtful they are, they'll stop blindly recycling America's left wing newspapers.
The SMH isn't the only newspaper to be an echo chamber for the left. Mark Steyn was recently an "unwitting victim" in a similar way.
"Over the weekend, I mentioned that the New York Times's curious interpretation of an aside of mine had been enthusiastically reduplicated by newspapers from Chicago to Vegas to Sacramento and beyond. The Irish Times, an impeccably liberal newspaper, has now issued a correction:
In her column in last Saturday’s edition, concerning the difficulties being faced by President Obama, Lara Marlowe said that Canadian commentator Mark Steyn accused Obama of trying to establish a “personality cult” like Saddam Hussein or North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. This had been reported in the New York Times. However, what Mr Steyn actually wrote was “obviously we’re not talking about the cult of personality on the Saddam Hussein/Kim Jong-Il scale.”
I like the not so subtle way the Irish Times blames its error on the New York Times: Ireland's newspaper of record should surely know better than to rely on America's newspaper of "record".
Before the Internet and bloggers, these papers used to get away with this propaganda. Not anymore.
Update: Mark Steyn gives me a shout out over at the Corner. Thanks Mr. Steyn.
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