The New York Times was forced to publish a whopper of a correction to a front-page article by reporters Jeremy Peters and Richard Pérez-Peña discussing the political implications of the debate over vaccines and the recent measles outbreak. (VIDEO: Matt Lauer Calls Out ‘Liberal New York Times’ For Article Painting GOP As Anti-Vaccine)
The article, published with the title “Measles Outbreak Proves Delicate Issue to G.O.P. Field,” has been appended with a more than 180-word correction to three factual errors in the piece:
Correction: February 3, 2015
An earlier version of this article gave incomplete context for a quote by President Obama. When he said of autism and other disorders among children, “Some people are suspicious that it’s connected to the vaccines, this person included,” he was not referring to himself, he was pointing to a member of the crowd. An earlier version also misattributed a quote. It was Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control, who said on the ABC News program “This Week” that the science was clear and convincing. “Study after study has shown that there are no negative long-term consequences. And the more kids who are not vaccinated, the more they’re at risk and the more they put their neighbors’ kids at risk as well.” It was not Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a possible 2016 presidential candidate who also appeared on the show. Also, because of an editing error, a previous version of the article misstated the TV show on which Mr. Obama was appearing when he urged parents to “get your kids vaccinated.” It was the “Today Show,” not “Meet the Press.”
Mixing up two NBC shows isn’t the worst mistake ever. But combined with somehow attributing a quote from a CDC official to the current Republican front-runner, and turning Obama’s ambivalent dodge into an admission of full-blown vaccine skepticism? Yikes. (RELATED: NYT Publishes Embarrassingly Long Thanksgiving Recipe Correction)
Correction: An earlier version of this story claimed that Nintendo Power issued the correction, when the outlet was actually The New York Times. Nintendo Power ceased publication in 2012. In addition, the author of the piece was Jeremy Peters, not Tony Award-winning actress Bernadette Peters. Finally, the original story claimed The New York Times assassinated former President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Laurent-Désiré Kabila. The actual assassin was Rashidi Muzele. TheDC regrets the errors.