NY Times published fake letter from Paris mayor

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

NY Times published fake letter from Paris mayor
December 22, 2008

NEW YORK—The New York Times admitted Monday it published a fake letter purportedly from the mayor of Paris criticizing Caroline Kennedy's bid for a U.S. Senate seat as "appalling" and "not very democratic."

In a note posted Monday on its Web site, the Times said the letter signed by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe was a fake and should not have been published because it violated the paper's standards and procedures for publishing signed letters.

"We have already expressed our regrets to Mr. Delanoe's office and we are now doing the same to you, our readers," the Times said.

News of the hoax was first reported by France-Amerique, which published its story on its Web site Monday.



Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2008/12/22/ny_times_published_fake_letter_from_paris_mayor/

[Lerkfish]

1. LOL! so, sarah palin and the NYT forget to fact check

[derby378]

2. Is it now an international sport to impersonate the French?

First the prank phone call to Sarah Palin, and now this. What gives?

[awoke_in_2003]

8. Maybe not an international sport...

but it is usually funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7zbWNznbs

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. You are surprised? Almost all MSM news is fake.

The idea that the peasants might get actual news from our corporate masters would scare our owners to death.

[antimatter98]

4. I'm 'shocked' that the Times would print fake news. n/t

[Me.]

5. How About An Apology To Caroline As Well

And while I love Paris what the heck does it matter what the Mayor of Paris think about an appointment for Senator in a US/my state?

[EFerrari]

7. No kidding. n/t

[IndianaGreen]

9. NY Times hasn't apologized for Judith Miller's WMD reporting

Why would they change their MO for this latest fiasco?

[Me.]

12. There You Go

Maybe they should have Kristol write a column about this and then have to correct that too.

[Dorian Gray]

21. Exactly

[Eugenian]

6. "the Times said the letter signed by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe was a fake"

So which is it, AP? Was it signed by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe or was it a fake?

[No Elephants]

10. Perhaps the writer meant "the letter appearing to have been signed by Paris Mayor..."?

[No Elephants]

11. This is appalling. One call to the Mayor's office for a confirmation would

have prevented this. I hope the rest of the media flails them for it. I also hope they find the maroon who did send it.

[RedSock]

22. i thought they called everyone

the times calls anyone who writes a letter it is thinking of printing.

i've had several letters in the times over the years and my wife has had a slew more (more than a dozen) -- and they ALWAYS called to verify that the name and number given on the letter was accurate -- every single time. and we are two nobodies. (they have also called and then the letter did not appear, for space or whatever reasons.)

i refuse to believe they did not check this out.

[NBachers]

13. OK. That's It! From now on, she'll be "Freedom" Hilton to me.

That'll show 'em!

[depakid]

14. Sulzberger, Jr. 's been in a race to the bottom with Donald Graham of the Post for years now

Every time the Post edges ahead

See, e.g. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-baker/washington-post-the-probl_b_152649.html">Washington Post: The Problem is YOU, Not "We" by economist Dean Baker

The Times does them one better.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. All the news that fits they print. n/t

[Botany]

16. bonjour I loves me zum New York Times ..... kiss kiss

[New_England_Patriot]

17. Scratch one more news source...

We're running out of reliable news sourc... what am I saying? We've already run out.

Here's what they said at the Huffington Post about this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/22/french-mayor-fake-letter_n_152908.html

The Times blamed the mistake on a failure to verify the authenticity of a letter that arrived by e-mail.

"In this case, our staff sent an edited version of the letter to the sender of the e-mail and did not hear back," the paper said. "At that point, we should have contacted Mr. Delanoe's office to verify that he had, in fact, written to us. We did not do that. Without that verification, the letter should never have been printed."

The Times said it was reviewing its procedures to avoid such an incident in the future.

Dumbasses. :eyes: Printing unverified, and more importantly, NON-TRUTHFUL news is just absolutely dishonorable. I mean, look at the subject matter of the email hoax. Not only are they in hot water with Caroline Kennedy, but now they're in hot water with a foreign nation.

A simple oops doesn't cut it. Oh... yeah, they're going to review its procedures... to do what exactly? Check that their sources are VALID? That's supposed to be what they should be doing right now! Enough with 'expressing regret'. They still haven't apologized yet.

[New Dawn]

18. NY Times published fake letter from Paris mayor

Source: AP

NEW YORK – The New York Times admitted Monday it published a fake letter purportedly from the mayor of Paris criticizing Caroline Kennedy's Senate bid as "appalling" and "not very democratic."

"What title has Ms. Kennedy to pretend to Hillary Clinton's seat?" the letter in Monday's editions said. "We French can only see a dynastic move of the vanishing Kennedy clan in the very country of the Bill of Rights. It is both surprising and appalling."

In an editor's note posted Monday on its Web site, the Times said the letter signed by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe should not have been published because it violated the paper's standards and procedures.

"We have already expressed our regrets to Mr. Delanoe's office and we are now doing the same to you, our readers," the Times said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081222/ap_on_re_us/ny_times_hoax

[Sherman A1]

19. Should not have been published..... Really?

When I write an LTTE that will be published here in St. Louis, I get a phone call to verify that I wrote the letter and I am who I say I am. Gosh, that must be pretty tough for the elite NY Times to hold itself to such "high" standards.

What a bunch of Maroons.....

[TXDemGal]

20. Hmmm

Guest the NYT has had to cut back on its budget for actual EDITORS. :wtf:

[yellowcanine]

23. Why did the Paris mayor send a fake letter? These headline writers need to learn how to write.

[Judi Lynn]

25. Truly! Sarkozy needs to get a hobby, apparently. n/t

[SOS]

24. The NYT hatchet jobs on Caroline Kennedy and Charlie Rangel are getting sloppy.

nt

[bottomtheweaver]

26. What's even more astonishing is that the letter is still up on their website,

accompanied by a brief italicized and unapologetic apology:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/opinion/l22kennedy.html

Hey, they're the New York Fucking Times, they can print whatever the hell Bush wants.

[ogneopasno]

27. WTF? Are the cuts so deep that a news assistant couldn't have called to check that the letter was

legit? That's routine at some papers.

[bottomtheweaver]

28. Maybe they didn't want to wake anyone up?

There's that weird time shift that always makes you wonder if they're sleeping over there, ya know? Plus it's like WAY long distance to call France.