Jack Shafer

"It's called legwork, it's called immersion journalism, and it doesn't look pretty. But it should come as a surprise to only naive newspaper readers that every day journalists treat the subjects of investigations the way [Joe] McGinniss is treating Palin,"  Slate's Jack Shafer argued in a May 26 post subheadlined, "In defense of a journalist's stalking of a politician." Shafer wrote his post…

The Washington Post published an extensive investigative piece about Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Friday which was a collaboration with the far-left media outlet ProPublica (h/t Carter Wood).As NewsBusters executive editor Matt Sheffield and I reported last September, ProPublica was founded by Herb and Marion Sandler, the California billionaires that have contributed millions to liberal…

A beyond overwhelming 96 percent of the staff of Slate.com, the online news magazine site owned by the Washington Post, plan to vote for Barack Obama. A Tuesday posting, “Slate Votes: Obama wins this magazine in a rout,” reported 55 staff members plan to cast their ballot for Obama, a mere one person will vote for John McCain, the same number (one) who support libertarian Bob Barr. Another…

"I don't believe that the Times is pulling for Barack Obama." Jack Shafer, Slate, 9-23-08There's actually much to agree with in Jack Shafer's column today regarding McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt's criticism of the New York Times.  Consider this observation by Shafer, for example:The press corps does adore Barack Obama. They like his story. They like writing about him. They like the way he…

Even when The New York Times admits they were wrong, they still don't quite get it right. The paper acknowledged May 13 that a March 27 story, "Salmon Virus Indicts Chile's Fishing Methods," was incorrect when an article by Alexei Barrionuevo had identified security guard Adolfo Flores as the Port Director of Castro, Chiloe Island (see full "Editors' Note" here). Their "Editors' Note"…

How many times will The New York Times publish a disreputable reporter's work before it learns its lesson? Perhaps the third time will be the charm. Alexei Barrionuevo has under come under fire for plagiarism on two separate occasions, but the Times printed a story March 27 ("Salmon Virus Indicts Chile's Fishing Methods") by Barrionuevo anyway, prompting a response from the salmon industry.…