Not surprising; not inexplicable

Editor & Publisher is amazed that the New York Times has acknowledged two huge journalistic faux pas this week.

NEW YORK For the second time in less than a week, The New York Times today admitted to a serious error in a story. On Saturday it said it had misidentified a man featured in the iconic "hooded inmate" photograph from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Today it discloses that a woman it profiled on March 8 is not, in fact, a victim of Hurricane Katrina--and was arrested for fraud and grand larceny yesterday.

As it did in the Abu Ghraib mistake, the Times ran an editors' note on page 2 of its front section, along with a lengthy news article (this time on the front page of Section B). Again mirroring the Abu Ghraib episode, the newspaper revealed a surprising and inexplicable lapse in fact-checking on the part of a reporter and/or editor.

The latest goof: a long article on a Hurricane Katrina victim who, it turns out, wasn't a victim at all, and is now fighting charges of welfare fraud.

"... the newspaper revealed a surprising and inexplicable lapse in fact-checking on the part of a reporter and/or editor."

(We repeat this quote because it's the money quote.)

Not surprising. Not inexplicable. There are many of us who believe the Old Gray Lady is in her Alzheimer's years, no longer capable of believable journalism.

E&P noted that the editor's note was written by the same reporter who authored the original story "(w)ithout saying that he wrote the first story". E&P does not tell us whether that is a good or bad thing.

E&P also does not say whether the Times actually apologized to its readers.