Politico ‘stealth edits’ headline on its Ben Carson-West Point story
Busted. Politico changed the headline on its problematicBen Carson — West Point story from “Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship” to “Exclusive: Carson claimed West Point ‘scholarship’ but never applied,” but there’s no Editor’s note in the story to alert readers to the change:
Here are screenshots comparing the two headlines, via the Washington Post’s Dave Weigel:
The lede was changed, too, but there are still problems with it:
And here are screenshots of the changed lede paragraph. The original:
And the new one:
Maybe Politico is new to this Internet thing, but we have ways of checking these things now-a-days. Here’s the original in full:
But the super-stealthy editors missed one. Always check the photo caption, guys!
Rookies.
Update. Politico has added an editor’s note, but stands by the story:
