Reply #10: well, logic is not a factor...

[lala_rawraw]

He called me a liar to my editor and said some fairly ugly things about bloggers and online publications... and his article includes his opinion, which seems a bit personal, since he never did speak to me or allow me to respond. And again, you saw what he wrote in your post. His editors are backing him... do you realize that if we had gotten a letter like the one we sent to them, point by point on all of the things that he got wrong - my head would be on a platter. It is not up for debate IF these things are wrong:

1. he KNOWS she met with me, in a park, alone. He does not dispute that. So he left it out on purpose, skewing the story to fit his narrative.
2. he KNOWS i have had no contact with her before or after, but he does not mention that, again skewing the story
3. he has been told that he made an error about the daughter, BUT HE REFUSES to correct it or provide the context for why I left the note rather than go to the front door


ON those three things alone my head would have been on a platter. Hell, my editor would never allow an article like that to leave the shop. I would have gotten a grilling before as I always do (how do you know this? what did this person say when you asked them? how many sources? and so forth)

In fact, I have had a US attorney write me a letter about one of my reporters which called him a liar, a fraud, and so forth. I went point by point with the US Attorney addressing every single issue. It turned out that he had confused to different things, articles. But we send these people a three page letter going point by point and they send us a 2 sentence response - cookie cutter. I am shocked that they are behaving so brazenly and they are going to label me "self styled" as though it excuses their behavior?

I don't know what to make of it. And then to make things worse, he uses the excuse that I am dishonest to justify his behavior - despite never having talked to me. He does not say how I am dishonest or what errors I have made, nor does he follow standard methods of addressing issues that need corrections. If he found issues in any of my work, he could have drafted a note or even called my editor as we did with him and his editor. But suddenly, when called into question about his own work, he points to vague supposed errors in mine as his defense. Even assuming there are errors in my work (and I am human and things happen), how does that free him of his obligation to be honest, ethical, and present the facts and do so fairly? I have never in my life responded this way when I have been contacted about errors - and I have made some, spelling errors, city names... I am human, it happens. But I am the first to want to correct these things because it is my reputation and the publication's reputation on the line. It is like they don't care at all. I am truly baffled by this.