Here's another fishy NY Times story

How many times will The New York Times publish a disreputable reporter's work before it learns its lesson?

That’s the question blogger Jeff Poor asks in a post I’ve excerpted, after which I comment below the star line.

From Poor’s post - - -

. . . Perhaps the third time will be the charm. Alexei Barrionuevo has come under fire for plagiarism on two separate occasions, but the Times printed a story March 27 ("Salmon Virus Indicts Chile's Fishing Methods") by Barrionuevo anyway, prompting a response from the salmon industry.

Barrionuevo quotes Adolfo Flores in his article, identifying him as Port Director of Castro, Chiloe Island. But in a letter to the Times May 2, Eric McErlain, writing on behalf of Salmon of the Americas Inc (an industry group), pointed out major problems with the report.

"In actuality, Mr. Flores is simply a security guard who works for a third party contractor," McErlain wrote. "I've enclosed an English translation of a letter from Patricio Cuello, the general manager of the Port of Puerto Montt, which administers Castro, confirming this." . . .

Poor’s entire post is here.
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Comments:

So The Times publishes a story by Alexei Barrionuevo who it knows has a deserved reputation as a disreputable reporter.

And it doesn’t even bother to fact-check Barrionuevo to make sure Adolfo Flores is Port Director of Castro, Chiloe Island.

Yet NYT's top heavy with editors and claims to be “the journal of record.”

So why didn’t The Times fact-check?

I think it was because Barrionuevo had given The Times the kind of story it wanted.

At The Times getting the facts right is not nearly as important as spinning the day’s meta-narrative.

Barrionuevo has a future at the NYT.

But where?

What about this: With Summer almost here, The Times can ask Barrionuevo to serve as vacation fill-in for columnist and former Enron consultant Paul Krugman?

It would be “a seamless transition.”

Hat tip: AC