Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Someone Should Be Fired Over This

While I've been unable to yet find a link, an item in today's Potomac News caught my eye. It was a letter to the editor, with a headline which flatly stated that Democrat Senate candidate Jim Webb had been Reagan's Navy Secretary for four years.

Now, as anyone knows, authors of letters and op-eds are not responsible for headlines; editors are. And to be sure, the letter's author stated the facts accurately: that Webb served for four years in the Reagan Administration, but only for ten months as Navy Secretary.

So the question arises: Why would a Potomac News editor inaccurately state Webb's credentials? I can think of many reasons, but it is highly doubtful that "it was just a mistake" is the most likely, even if the possibility will probably be enough to allow the individual in question to keep his or her job.

If, indeed, the publisher of the Potomac News even cares.

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