No Big Deal: Anyone Can Make a Mistake, Including the Gray Lady

December 21, 2020

Yes, I pay for a subscription to the tree killing, paper edition of the New York Times. No, I don’t listen to the New York Times’ podcasts and I pay less and less attention to the mewlings of their expert reporters who pop up on other outfits’ podcasts.

I do want to point out that the “new” New York Times with its cute use of hip new words like maskne made a very small, almost miniscule error. NBC New York’s article “New York Times: ‘Caliphate’ Podcast Didn’t Meet Standards” stated:

The New York Times admitted Friday that it could not verify the claims of a Canadian man whose account of committing atrocities for the Islamic State in Syria was a central part of its 2018 podcast “Caliphate.” The series had won a Peabody Award, the first ever for a podcast produced by the newspaper, but within hours administrators said the Times would return the award. The Overseas Press Club of America said it was rescinding its honor for “Caliphate.”

What’s the fix? Mea culpas and moving the reporter off the “terrorism beat.”

What about the boss of the podcast? What about the HR Department green lighting the hire? What about the senior management of the Gray Lady?

I don’t have answers to these questions, but for the Gray Lady, maybe it’s time to think about some special care for the elderly and actual newsroom management by the thumb typers who work at the outfit.

Stephen E Arnold, December 22, 2020

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