GOODY TWO SHOES: Wannabe Pundit: Part III
It’s been a month since James Taranto and his wannabe pundit joined together in Best of the Web Today (BOTWT) to gangbang Harvard University terrorism expert Jessica Stern with erroneous accounts in the New York Sun and BOTWT about her remarks on religious extremism at a conference organized by security think tank EastWest institute.
As of yet, Taranto has not seen fit to:
† Correct the shoddy reporting he cited from the Sun, on which his own shoddy analysis was based;
† Disclose* to BOTWT and OpinionJournal readers why he did not verify the facts in the Sun article himself, instead of relying upon the reporting of an inexperienced and demonstrably inept freelance writer (who only got the assignment after Taranto twisted his pal Ira Stoll’s arm to throw some work her way); or
† Apologize to Stern for any damage or distress he and his wannabe pundit have caused (thanks to the pair, the professor says she received numerous death threats).
Taranto has not taken these corrective steps, because it’s apparently been so long since he’s taken a look at the Dow Jones Code of Conduct that he has forgotten his professional obligations to his employer, and to readers of BOTWT and OpinionJournal:
† Our facts are accurate and fairly presented;
† Our analyses represent our best independent judgments rather than our preferences, or those of our sources, advertisers or information providers;
† Our opinions represent only our own editorial philosophies; or
† There are no hidden agendas in any of our journalistic undertakings. …
But what Taranto lacks in ethics, he sure makes up for in chutzpah! Since June 15th, he has:
† Questioned the ethics of other journalists on June 21st, and took a second swipe at ethicist Randy Cohen, of The New York Times, on June 25th;
† Called several credentialed journalists working for major metropolitan papers "wannabe pundits" (including Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune and Michael Sragow of the Baltimore Sun on July 10th, Tom Knott of the Washington Times on July 9th and Art Thiel of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on July 6th); and
† Taken other news outlets and journalists to task for "misleading reporting" (for instance, the BBC on July 10th and The Associated Press on July 5th).
Amazing, ain’t it? Ironically, Taranto calls Hillary Clinton a borderline sociopath for pretty much the same type of behavior.
[Editorial Note: Earlier in the week, Slate published an interesting article, "How does the Wall Street Journal cover stories about the Wall Street Journal?" The Stiletto is curious to see how the print and online editions of the paper would cover an egregious, ongoing conflict of interest about which Alix Freedman and Melanie Kirkpatrick have been clueless for over a year now.]
* Disclosure: The Stiletto has had a beef with Taranto since he revealed himself to be an Armenian Genocide denier (third item). The Stiletto is always on the lookout for anyone who tries to minimize or deny the crime against humanity Ottoman Turks perpetrated, and lets ‘em have it. Taranto can take small comfort in knowing that he’s not The Stiletto’s only target.
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