'Mistakes Happen,' How Fake Quotes About Women Having Small Brains Got Publ

iMediaEthics publishes international media ethics news stories and investigations into journalism ethics lapses.

Menu

Home » Bad Taste»

(Credit: Frederick News Post Facebook)

In another cautionary tale about not checking facts, last month the Frederick News-Post in Maryland admitted that it published fake quotes that said American Enterprise Institute scholar Charles Murray thought women have underdeveloped brains, as iMediaEthics wrote.

We’ve since heard back from The Frederick News-Post‘s managing editor Terry Headlee and editorial page editor Cliff Cumber with more information about the error.

Headlee and Cumber said that the author of the article, “paid freelancer” Patricia Weller, saw the fake quotes attributed to Murray online and published them, along with paraphrases and conclusions, as real without fact checking. She then included them in her column as evidence about how “these are not the best of times to be a woman.”

The newspaper found out that Weller’s column contained fake quotes and paraphrases based on the fake quotes, too late — after publication — when Murray’s wife, Catherine Bly Cox, sent in a letter to the editor detailing how the article erred.

 

The Frederick News-Post’s article originally claimed:

“As reported in the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post, Charles Murray, a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute and educational advisor to Greg Abbott, Republican candidate for governor of Texas, is of the opinion that we women are not firing on all cylinders. Recently, in defending remarks he wrote in 2005 stating that there was no ‘evidence’ that a woman has ever been ‘a significant thinker,’ Murray said that women’s brains have not developed to the same degree as men’s.

“Murray went on to suggest that the size of our brains, ladies, is the reason for inequality in pay.

“You don’t pay the same at the pump for regular and supreme,” he said. “Why would you expect to pay the same for the work of a less-developed intellect?”

“It gets worse. When questioned about whether he agreed with his advisor, Texas gubernatorial candidate Abbott said that Murray was a smart man, so it must be true.

“Here we thought we were catching up only to find out we are still inferior. Who knew?”

 

 

iMediaEthics asked for more information about how Weller was duped by the fake quotes.

Cumber told iMediaEthics that Weller “took the quote from what she considered two credible sources, which she attributed in the original column.”

However, the credible source turned out to be, originally, a satire website, that was the source for the republication of the fake quotes by others.

He added that Weller apologized to the newspaper.

While those sources weren’t attributed in Weller’s column, the fake quotes are published on website Newslo, which identifies itself as “the first hybrid News/Satire platform on the web.”

They have also been republished on web forums on the websites tehparadox.com, cafemom.com, democratsforprogress.com and aarp.org. Those websites simply re-published an excerpt of the Newslo article.

Interestingly, one feature on Newslo.com allows readers to distinguish in articles between what is fact and what is satire. Careful readers will see that when you click the “show facts” button on the Newslo article quoting Murray, you see that much of the article is fabricated satire.

Below, see a screenshot of the Newslo article with the “show facts” option selected. Newslo says that all of the content that is highlighted is factual, and the information that is not highlighted is fabricated satire. Weller used content from the non-highlighted, fabricated satire in her article.

 

Were they duped?

Cumber insists that being duped means someone had to trick you on purpose.  “I wouldn’t use the word ‘duped,’ which implies intentional deception with an agenda,” he wrote.

iMediaEthics challenged that definition, noting that duped means fooled, which Weller was when she included fabricated comments in her column.  A Google search for the definition of dupe shows

Cumber responded:

“Saying anyone was ‘fooled’ or ‘deceived’ is a mischaracterization,” Cumber opined, “because I don’t think anyone’s intention was to go out of their way to trick journalists or anyone else here, but it’s your story, so present it how you want.” iMediaEthics knows from the official dictionary definition that it doesn’t matter what the intention of the duped person was, if you believe something that is fake is real, you are fooled or deceived.

Cumber said that he can’t remember another incident of the News-Post publishing fake quotes in his “more than a decade” at the paper.

When asked for more information about what steps the paper will take to prevent such fabrications slipping through to publication again, Cumber wrote, “As with any corrections, we take them seriously and deal with them when they’re brought to our attention, and will continue to do that wherever we find them in the paper.”

 

How they fixed it

Interestingly, the News-Post had Weller re-write the column to remove the fake quotes, instead of having an editor fix the errors in the article.

Given that Weller, who was the person originally duped by the fake comments, wrote the new version of the article, we asked how the News-Post fact checked the re-write. We were simply told, “By checking with legitimate news sites that had reported on Murray.”

When asked about how the paper reviews submissions, Headlee wrote, “We review and edit all columns that are submitted to us and have rejected columns for various reasons too numerous to mention. It’s rare that any column is printed as submitted.”

Bly Cox, the wife of the man who was misquoted by the paper, said she was very satisfied with the newspaper’s actions in handling the error, Headlee wrote. He provided a May 21 e-mail she sent calling the newspaper’s response “really gratifying.”

Headlee told iMediaEthics by e-mail that the newspaper published an editor’s note in its print edition acknowledging error as well Bly Cox’s critical letter to the editor.

Cumber wrote that Weller will continue to write for the paper and that there won’t be any consequences for Weller. “Mistakes happen,” he wrote.

Submit a tip / Report a problem

‘Mistakes Happen,’ How Fake Quotes About Women Having Small Brains Got Published

Share this article:

ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
คาสิโน
slot demo
sa gaming
tkb365
https://tkb399.com/login
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ทำความรู้จักกับ
tkb138
ซุปเปอร์สล็อต
สล็อต
sa gaming
https://www.hotelplayagolf.com/es/instalaciones/piscinas
tkb365
บาคาร่า
สล็อตเว็บตรง
บาคาร่า
ทดลองเล่นสล็อตฟรี
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
tkb138
คาสิโน
tkb138
สล็อตเว็บตรง
tkb365
สล็อต
changbet789
คาสิโนออนไลน์
สูตรสล็อต pg ทดลองเล่นฟรี
สล็อต
สล็อต
tkb138
https://www.hotelalbora.com/
https://tkb108.co/register
tkb696
เว็บบาคาร่าโดยตรง
changbet789
สล็อตทดลอง
pg
betflix
pg slot
สล็อต
tkb138
https://titanium-hotel.com/
สล็อต
tkb138
taokaebet
tkb777
อันดับแรก
คาสิโน
changbet789
แจกเครดิตฟรี 100%
ทดลองเล่นสล็อตทุกค่ายฟรี
สล็อต
changbet789
tkb365
changbet789
finfinbet
สล็อต
changbet789
tkb108
tkbneko
สล็อต
สล็อต
pgสล็อต777
สล็อต
https://www.gday96.com/
สล็อต888
สล็อต
โป๊กเกอร์ออนไลน์
สล็อต
changbet789
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต pg
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ทดลองเล่นสล็อตฟรี
tkb365
tkb365
tkb365
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
TKB96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
tkbsexy
tkbrich
tkbpussy
tkbpg
tkbfun
tkb96
tkb33
tkb9
tkb4
thb889
tkbking
tkb555
tkb365
changbet789
บาคาร่า
sa gaming
คาสิโนออนไลน์สด
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ลองเล่นสล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต pg ซื้อฟรีสปิน
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
บาคาร่า
คาสิโน
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
สล็อต777
สล็อต
บาคาร่า
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต789
pg
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
sa gaming
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต100000
ตรงไปที่สล็อต
SA Gaming
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
บาคาร่า
สล็อต
สล็อตทดลอง
สล็อตทดลอง
ทดลองเล่นสล็อตทุกค่ายฟรี
คาสิโน
ทดลองเล่นบาคาร่าฟรี
สล็อตออนไลน์
pg slot
ทดลองเล่นสล็อตทุกค่ายฟรี
บาคาร่า
แทงบอล
สล็อต555
สล็อตวอเลท
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต99
สล็อต
สล็อต99
สล็อต
superslot
สล็อต
สล็อต456
สล็อต
แทงบอล
สล็อตออนไลน์
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
สล็อต
SUPERSLOT
สล็อตเว็บตรง
สล็อตเว็บตรง
คาสิโน
สล็อต
pg slot
ช่องฟรี
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
สล็อต555
สล็อต
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
คาสิโน
สล็อต
สล็อต
บาคาร่า
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต pg
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต100000
สล็อต
betflik
แทงบอล
สล็อต888
ช่องฟรี
การสาธิตสล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
บาคาร่า
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต168
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
สล็อตเว็บตรง
สล็อต
สล็อตทดลอง
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต888
คาสิโน
สล็อต
สล็อต999
สล็อต
สล็อต
m98
สล็อต
betflix
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
pg zeed
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต789
สล็อต789
สล็อต168
สล็อตเว็บตรง
สล็อต666
สล็อต