'Democracy dies in six weeks of darkness': Washington Post issues Editor's Note (behind the paywall) and deletes tweet on its coverage of the Covington Catholic students

Greg P. | 7:52 PM on March 01, 2019

The Washington Post has finally added an Editor’s Note to all of its reporting on the Covington Catholic students at the March for Life in D.C. and they’ve deleted this tweet which erroneously stated that Native American activist Nathan Phillips fought in the Vietnam War:

The Post has issued an Editor’s Note about updates to its initial coverage of the Jan. 18 incident at the Lincoln Memorial: https://t.co/rhzKZ1715K

We’ve also deleted this Jan. 19 tweet in light of later developments. For more, see the Editor’s Note. pic.twitter.com/O7qCSnBMPO

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 1, 2019

It only took them 6 weeks:

Democracy dies in six weeks of darkness.

— Mo Mo Bo Bo Bananafana Fo Fo (@molratty) March 2, 2019

The story is also behind the paywall so people can’t read it:

I guess it's true what they say: Democracy Dies in Darkness:
Nothing on the @washingtonpost home page about the correction on the "Lincoln Memorial Incident". And the Editor's Note is behind the paywall.https://t.co/i7Qd8ljZpH pic.twitter.com/sCVqYDwhWZ

— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) March 1, 2019

Here it is in full:

By Washington Post Staff

March 1 at 5:17 PM

A Washington Post article first posted online on Jan. 19 reported on a Jan. 18 incident at the Lincoln Memorial. Subsequent reporting, a student’s statement and additional video allow for a more complete assessment of what occurred, either contradicting or failing to confirm accounts provided in that story — including that Native American activist Nathan Phillips was prevented by one student from moving on, that his group had been taunted by the students in the lead-up to the encounter, and that the students were trying to instigate a conflict. The high school student facing Phillips issued a statement contradicting his account; the bishop in Covington, Ky., apologized for the statement condemning the students; and an investigation conducted for the Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School found the students’ accounts consistent with videos.Subsequent Post coverage, including video, reported these developments: “Viral standoff between a tribal elder and a high schooler is more complicated than it first seemed”; “Kentucky bishop apologizes to Covington Catholic students, says he expects their exoneration”; “Investigation finds no evidence of ‘racist or offensive statements’ in Mall incident.”

A Jan. 22 correction to the original story reads: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly said that Native American activist Nathan Phillips fought in the Vietnam War. Phillips said he served in the U.S. Marines but was never deployed to Vietnam.