There are more published stories receiving big edits or outright retractions than I ever recall seeing.
Might be worth placing these in a single thread to compare and contrast…see if there is any kind of trend.
I would like to lead with this seemingly mild rebuke on Joe Biden for continuously mentioning his son Beau when meeting grieving service families.
Beau Biden did serve as a JAG military lawyer in Iraq 2008 to 2009. He then went on to become AG of the state of Delaware. Passing away at the young age of 46 from brain cancer.
In the published article…
The Times updated the headline from “Biden, Still Grieving His Son, Finds That Not Everyone Wants to Hear About It,” to “In Invoking Beau, Biden Broaches a Loss That’s Guided His Presidency.”
The article highlights interactions between the president and the Gold Star families of those who perished in last week’s suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, under Biden’s chaotic termination of America’s involvement in Afghanistan.
Mark Schmitz, father of fallen Marine Lance Corporal Jason Schmitz, asked the president not to forget his son’s name at Dover Air Force Base amid the return of his body. Schmitz was taken aback as the president used the death of Jason to segue towards his own grief regarding Beau. “I respect anybody that lost somebody,” Schmitz began, “but it wasn’t an appropriate time.”
It appears as a relatively non controversial headline, yet the Times was bullied into turning it into mush.
Why?
We have the Rolling Stone retraction on hospital patient turn away’s Covid case counts gone wrong, tests that have been revised, etc etc.
There is an information ethics crisis as much as any medical emergency.