THE GUARDIAN APOLOGIZES….I criticized the Guardian a few days ago for running both the (apparently) bogus Jack Straw/Colin Powell story and the Paul Wolfowitz translation. Today they explain themselves in a lengthy article. Here’s the end:
There is no total satisfaction in these situations. The story should not have run. In view of the significance of the statements attributed to Mr Wolfowitz, rigorous checking should have taken place. The hazard of translating remarks from German back into the English in which they were originally made should have been apparent.
It concluded a week in which the Guardian apologised to the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, for locating him at a meeting he did not attend. It has not been the best of weeks.
The Guardian deserves a lot of credit for printing this. American newspapers frequently print corrections, but rarely do they explain exactly what happened, what the reaction was, or express any genuine sense that they screwed up. Kudos to the Guardian for doing all these things.
