Monday, February 06, 2006
A Correction
Earlier in this blog, I said that Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera "can't read" after he accused the New York Times of calling ABC Anchroman Bob Woodruff's presence and subsequent injury in Iraq a "ratings stunt."
As it turns out, the Times did use the phrase "ratings stunt" in the subhead above the article. That said, the article itself did not call Woodruff's actions a "ratings stunt." At the time I heard Rivera's accusations, I only had access to an on-line version of the article. That on-line version did not include the subhead that was used in the published version. Having since seen the published version (which is not immediately available in Crockett, Texas), I admit my error.
Articles are written by correspondents. Headlines and subheads are usually written by copy editors and layout editors. The correspondent that penned the article should not be criticized. Rivera, for his part, should have taken more care to point out that a subhead is separate from the article it previews. Had he done that, however, it would have made his dramatic cry of shame on the Times much less attention-grabbing; and that doesn't make for very good TV ratings.
As it turns out, the Times did use the phrase "ratings stunt" in the subhead above the article. That said, the article itself did not call Woodruff's actions a "ratings stunt." At the time I heard Rivera's accusations, I only had access to an on-line version of the article. That on-line version did not include the subhead that was used in the published version. Having since seen the published version (which is not immediately available in Crockett, Texas), I admit my error.
Articles are written by correspondents. Headlines and subheads are usually written by copy editors and layout editors. The correspondent that penned the article should not be criticized. Rivera, for his part, should have taken more care to point out that a subhead is separate from the article it previews. Had he done that, however, it would have made his dramatic cry of shame on the Times much less attention-grabbing; and that doesn't make for very good TV ratings.
