(Credit: Twitter, screenshot)

Mediaite apologized for incorrectly reporting that journalist Touré tweeted “defending Chris Brown.”

The original article, titled “Touré defends Chris Brown ‘He made One Little Mistake,’ read, in part, “2012 MSNBC contributor and cultural critic Touré was put on blast Wednesday when he tweeted a defense of R&B star Chris Brown’s 2009 assault on Rihanna,” according to a Google news search.

(Credit: Google Search, screenshot)

The article has since been taken down. The original link (http://www.mediaite.com/online/toure-defends-chris-brown-he-made-one-little-mistake/) goes to a “Not Found” page.

According to Mediaite’s apology, it “misinterpreted” Touré’s tweet and it was “a stupid, lazy error that should never have happened.” As Media Bistro’s Fishbowl NY explained, “a simple read of [Touré’s] timeline would confirm” that Touré “was actually criticizing” Brown.

Mediaite fell on its sword in its apology, calling its error “inexcusable,” “shameful and sad,” among other  things.  The New York Times’ Fort Greene blog called the apology “the greatest media mea culpa ever.”

Prior to the apology, Touré tweeted critically of Mediaite’s article. Some of his tweets include (here, here, here and here):

• “Disagreeing is reasonable. Misrepresenting positions is unacceptable. Apologies are easy to tweet. Still nada? May be time to lawyer up…”
• “I have been writing & tweeting in defense of Rihanna & DV victims since the CB incident happened. To be mischaracterized this way is painful”
• “@JamesCrugnale Why have you written a story about me that’s the opposite of the truth? I never defended Chris Brown. Reading comprehension?”
• “@JamesCrugnale Please take down your libelous & totally fallacious story about me immediately. It is the opposite of the truth. Do better.”

Mediaite told iMediaEthics by e-mail that it has no further comment beyond the published apology post.

We wrote in August of last year about criticism of ESPN for Photoshopping football player Michael Vick to look like a white man to accompany Touré’s story “What if Michael Vick were white?”  His article dismissed the question, which he called “so facile, naive, shortsighted and flawed that it is meaningless” quickly. Touré joined in the criticism of the Photoshop and noted that he was against the idea.

Hat Tip: Media Bistro’s Morning Newsletter