Inside the Ring
By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/inring.htm
Early Bird
There has been a small makeover to one of Washington's best-read publications.
The Pentagon Early Bird, an electronic compilation of that day's defense reporting, no longer leads with the top stories. Instead, Larry Di Rita, the Defense Department's chief spokesman, has ordered the staff to first list that day's corrections as listed by the major dailies.
Aides to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld say the not-so-subtle shift is a message to reporters that the Pentagon is increasingly aware of what it considers the bent by the press to write inaccurate stories about the administration.
On Monday, for example, the Early Bird reproduced a correction in the New York Times. The Times conceded that it erred in reporting that the White House had not disclosed previously that some of President Bush's Air National Guard records were destroyed when they were converted to microfiche.