One
While looking over the morning headlines, I noticed that JP Morgan had initiated buying Bear Stearns for $2 per share. I read the Associated Press article via Yahoo.
As I read the article, I noticed this passage:
Something with that tickled the back of my mind, but it was early, so I let it go. I continued reading and crossed this passage:
Then I realized why that earlier passage bothered me. World War I ended in 1918, about five years before Bear Stearns was founded. But then, I thought, how did something that is pretty basic like this slip through? I mean, I am not a professional and I noticed it, and this story had two writers plus (I’m guessing) an editor go over it, right?
Oh, two other reporters contributed to the story. Think back to May of 2003. There was a lot of controversy going on in the newspaper business because people were doing reporting for other reporters and were not being given credit. New York Times contributer and Pulitzer winner Rick Bragg lost his job over it. It was a common practice, I think. I’ve seen reporters huddle together to flesh out a story because each reporter has sources the other needs. I’ve seen more senior reporters help a tyro journo rewrite their story, too. The question is how much do other reporters need to contribute before they get credit for writing some of the story.
At any rate, did one of these two helper journalists add in the inaccurate statement? There really isn’t any way for us to know, but there are at least four AP writers who need a basic 20th century history class or at least an internet connection to Wikipedia.