As Twitchy reported Saturday morning, Jezebel published a hit piece falsely claiming that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker “wants colleges to stop reporting sexual assaults.” USA Today on Friday correctly reported the story — the University of Wisconsin requested that the state not require the reports, which are also submitted to the federal government — and Jezebel updated its piece. Unfortunately, The Daily Beast had already picked up Jezebel’s version of the story and spread it far and wide.
So, how long would it take The Daily Beast to correct its piece? Quite a few hours, as it turns out. Not only that; the original tweet linking to the story is still floating around out there, hours later, ready to be retweeted by anyone who wants to spread the lie.
https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/571664857839366144
At least clicking on the link leads to a correction appended to the original piece. And what a correction it is — it’s more like a reporter’s on-scene description of a massive train wreck or icy highway pileup.
CORRECTION AND RETRACTION: A Daily Beast college columnist at the University of Wisconsin based this article off a Jezebel posting which was incorrectly reported. Jezebel updated their post on Saturday with the following after USA Today published a story debunking Jezebel’s account and clarifying Gov. Scott Walker’s position. “UPDATE: After Jezebel ran this item yesterday, a spokesman for the University of Wisconsin came forward—over two weeks after the budget was released—to clarify: the University requested that Gov. Walker delete the requirements because efforts were redundant with their compliance of the Cleary Act. Scott Walker’s camp assures that he’s committed to protecting victims.”
The Daily Beast is committed to covering the news fairly and accurately, and we should have checked this story more thoroughly. We deeply regret the error and apologize to Gov. Walker and our readers. This story should be considered retracted.
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The Daily Beast didn’t stop there; it also published a new piece entitled, “Walker Unfairly Attacked On College Rape,” which is currently the top post on the site. “Walker Unfairly Attacked On College Rape by The Daily Beast” would have worked too.
So, what’s up with the Daily Beast college columnist who snagged the hit piece from Jezebel? He doesn’t appear to have tweeted for the past 24 hours.
Has @frostedweidies landed yet?
— Jason (@jasonelevation) February 28, 2015
https://twitter.com/peteinexile/status/571745752323629058
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