Errors and Omissions

News page teaches Op-Ed page about one of its contributors

From the New York Times:

Editors' Note

On Nov. 29 and Feb. 28, the Op-Ed page published articles co-written by Stephen E. Flynn, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, on the need to scan shipping containers. An article last Monday in the news pages of The Times reported that Mr. Flynn had earlier been a paid consultant to Science Applications International Corporation, which manufactured a container-scanning system.

The Times's Op-Ed contract compels contributors to disclose potential conflicts of interest, but not past ones. In this regard, Mr. Flynn did not violate the contract. However, had the editors known of Mr. Flynn's previous relationship with Science Applications International, they would have made that information available to readers. (Go to Nov. 29 Article) | (Go to Feb. 28 Article)

Thumbs up to the Times reporter, Eric Lipton, for discovering Flynn's vested interest. Thumbs down to the Times op-ed staff, for not discovering it. What are the policies for researching the backgrounds of Op-Ed contributors, whose viewpoints are by definition subjective?

newspapers, media, errors

posted by Unknown @ 6/25/2006 09:33:00 AM