Newsweek's Retraction

Newsweek has joined the ranks of the news media who play fast and loose with the facts in order to break the story. For those of you who haven't followed the saga--two weeks ago, Newsweek reported that it had obtained information from a reliable Washington source that Marines in Guantanamo Bay's detainee camp had flushed a Qur'an in a toilet during an interrogation. (The Qur'an is the Muslim holy book--a compilation of the writings of Mohammed.) After the story was released, there was rioting in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere in the Muslim world--outrage (yet again) against the evil actions of America.

Well, it turns out that Newsweek had no confirmation on the story before they ran with it. Government officials have repeatedly denied the allegation, and Newsweek has been forced to retract its story--AFTER all the damage to America's reputation has once again occurred.

I am not suggesting that the story was not true--that, I do not know. It may well have been accurate. However, to go to print with a story that has no corroboration seems irresponsible at best, and stupid at worst. Did the editors see this as an opportunity to make a splash? to break the story ahead of their competitors? I do not know, but I hope someone at Newsweek is finding answers to those questions.

We have become a society in which the news media is so afraid of being one-upped that they are unwilling to go the extra mile to verify their facts. I love the story of All the President's Men (about the Watergate scandal and how Woodward and Bernstein broke the story for the Washington Post). In that story, Ben Bradlee (long-time news editor of the Post) refused to let anything go to print that did not have TWO confirmations...that means THREE people had to tell the reporters the same story before it could be reported. Today, one person in a position of semi-responsibility can whisper in a reporter's ear that he/she MIGHT have heard something about a Qur'an and a toilet, and the next day the story leads television newscasts, appears on the front pages of national newspapers, and shows up in newsmagazines. How have we gotten from there to here?

Newsweek should be ashamed and remorseful. Similar events have cost respected journalists their jobs. Will Newsweek punish those responsible for this fiasco? Much remains to be seen, but one thing is certain--the news media refuse to learn the lesson!