Posted on 04/17/2005 9:30:18 PM PDT by Grampa Dave
Writer Fabricated Boston Globe Story on Seal Hunt
Fri Apr 15, 6:54 PM ET
By Greg Frost
BOSTON (Reuters) - A Boston Globe freelance writer fabricated large chunks of a story published this week, the newspaper said on Friday in the latest incident to embarrass the U.S. media.
The Globe, which is owned by The New York Times Co., said it stopped using writer Barbara Stewart because of a story that ran on Wednesday about a seal hunt off Newfoundland -- a hunt, it turns out, that had not taken place.
The Halifax, Nova Scotia-datelined article described in graphic detail how the seal hunt began on Tuesday, with water turning red as hunters on some 300 boats shot harp seal cubs "by the hundreds."
The problem, however, was that the hunt did not begin on Tuesday; it was delayed by bad weather and was scheduled to start on Friday, weather permitting, the Globe said in an editor's note.
Stewart could not immediately be reached for comment.
The newspaper, which first learned of the problem when the Canadian government called to complain, said in an editor's note it should not have published the story and should have insisted on attribution for details because the writer was not reporting from the scene.
"Details included the number of hunters, a description of the scene, and the approximate age of the cubs. The author's failure to accurately report the status of the hunt and her fabrication of details at the scene are clear violations of the Globe's journalistic standards," the paper said.
'NEVER ASSUME'
Globe Foreign Editor James Smith said that the newspaper knew Stewart was not at the seal hunt and was doing her reporting from Halifax.
"What she told us -- and we did check during the day -- was that she had confirmed with one of the fishermen in the story that it was going ahead," Smith said, adding that in retrospect the paper should have worked harder to clarify this.
"The point is, never assume," he told Reuters.
He added that Globe staffers have since reviewed two other stories Stewart wrote for the paper, but found no inaccuracies or other problems with them.
Canada is extremely sensitive about the hunt, during which hundreds of thousands of seals are beaten to death or shot for their pelts every year. U.S. activists, who says the seals are killed inhumanely, are urging consumers to shun Canadian seafood until the hunt is stopped.
Canadian Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan said his officials had called the paper to point out the error.
"We've been trying to get the facts out about the seal harvest, the fact that the herd is very healthy ... that in 98 percent of cases it (the hunt) is done in a humane way," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Officials with the newspaper were not immediately available for further comment.
U.S. media organizations have been hit with a series of high-profile cases involving plagiarism or fabrication.
In 2003, The New York Times' top two editors, Howell Raines and Gerald Boyd, left the paper after it was disclosed that reporter Jayson Blair had fabricated and plagiarized material.
CBS News, The Washington Post, NBC News, CNN, the New Republic magazine and USA Today have also been caught up in celebrated flaps over inaccurate reporting.
(additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa)
One more Boston Globe slogan sugggestion, "We decide, then report."
And yet, Fox News Channel is always getting raked over the coals for being biased. Oh, I forgot, because there are no editorial inaccuracies, the MSM has to make up their own lies about Fox.
"These reporters are getting very lazy. If they want to sit around in their pajamas and write they should become honest bloggers."
Excellent! Maybe this should be sent to the editors and those in charge to TV/Radio pseudo/quasi news, when this bs is outed.
Why cover the story when you can stay at home and make it up? Jason Blair knows about that convenience.
This story reminds me of last summer when a major magazine made-up coverage of the Republican Convention and erred by printing it before the convention began. What was the magazine, anyone remember?
"They knew the story was fake! It only became an issue when the government nailed them. The government knew it was fake because the hunt didn't take place. So the reporter had to be sacrificed."
Bingo! The head liars, the publishers and editors of the Glob knew this was a piece fiction and only responded when the story was outed as a lie.
"No surprise here! The Jayson Blair Slimes standards are alive and well in the fish wrapper industry."
When we read BS like this, the first thing that comes to our mind is this BS is right out Jayson Blairs first chapter on how to create and lie about events and call that BS news.
"Boston Globe alternative masthead suggestions: "We report the news BEFORE it happens!", and "We report the news that SHOULD happen!"
Plus: "If it didn't happen, the way we wanted it to happen. We will pretend that it did and ignore the truth."
Absolutely, it is Bush's fault that these terrible seal clubbings are happening, even if it only happened in the whacked out/drugged out minds of the publishers/editors and pseudo reporters.
LOL!!
It is obvious that the MSM has been lying to us for decades.
In the 1990's in their efforts to elect the Clintoon and keep him in office, their lies became more virulent and open.
Then in 2000 as they lied 24/7 to defeat GW, they stepped up their lying and vile hit jobs.
2004 was a high water mark in MSM lies which cost Blather/Mapes and others at CBS their jobs.
2005 is showing an increase of the level of lies and vicious attacks on GW and Republicans.
Lurid details about sea waters turning red from clobbering baby seals?
I gather PETA helped her wrote the phony story. Her associations with PETA oughta be checked out.
Typos are honest mistakes.
BS like this is a total sham from the editors/publishers who sent this bimbo to create lies about the seal hunt to sell their yellow fish wraps.
Fox being biased is criminal in the eyes of the lunatic left.
However, lying and fabrication of stories like this and what cost Rather/Mapes their jobs is great American journalism.
Thanks for the ping!
I don't know why they bothered to send her to Canada.
They could have sent her home with her daily drugs and booze. Then, after reaching the appropriate creative level with the drugs/booze, she could have created the story in Boston and emailed it.
Oh well, they saved taxi costs and air charter costs to cover the actual Seal event.
One the first things that ran through my old mind was the possible enviral watermelon and PETA connections this liar might have had.
"Done deal."
Lets us know any response you get.
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