16 September 2005 @ 2:03PM >> Byron Calame, the public editor of The New York Times, blasted opinion columnist Paul Krugman and editorial page editor Gail Collins today for the failure to issue a correction over Krugman’s misrepresentation of the media-led recount effort in the wake of the 2000 election:

An Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times who makes an error “is expected to promptly correct it in the column.” That’s the established policy of Gail Collins, editor of the editorial page. Her written policy encourages “a uniform approach, with the correction made at the bottom of the piece.”

Two weeks have passed since my previous post spelled out the errors made by columnist Paul Krugman in writing about news media recounts of the 2000 Florida vote for president. Mr. Krugman still hasn’t been required to comply with the policy by publishing a formal correction. Ms. Collins hasn’t offered any explanation.

[...]

A bottom-line question: Does a corrections policy not enforced damage The Times’s credibility more than having no policy at all?

That’s a good question, and Mr. Calame deserves credit for asking it. At least one person at the Times apparently believes that long-term credibility matters; apparently it doesn’t to Paul Krugman or Gail Collins.

Welcome to the fight, Byron. You officially have my respect.

16 September 2005 @ 1:33PM >> “Chanman,” a public school teacher, wrote in to describe his own experience with Islamic prayer in school:

Two years ago, I taught at a high school in the Sacramento area. One day during lunch, I walked to the lounge of the social studies department to make some copies. There were two girls wearing hajibs, standing outside the door of the lounge. They stopped me from entering because, “our friend is praying in there.” Their friend, a Muslim, was using our teachers lounge to pray toward Mecca because she felt funny about doing it outside. Meanwhile, I am stopped from performing my teacherly duties because a Muslim was using the teachers’ area to pray. Of course the head of our department was all for this and was quite tickled with himself at his showing of tolerance and compassion. I couldn’t help but wonder, would he have shown the same tolerance and compassion if a Christian girl had asked if she could use our teachers lounge to pray? To ask the question is to answer it.

16 September 2005 @ 12:00PM >> The Times of London’s Higher Education Supplement profiles Evan Coyne Maloney: “You need to leave or you’re going to jail,” intones the policeman. The camera pans down to a holstered gun at the officer’s waist. Evan Coyne Maloney, scourge of the Establishment, is clearly not welcome.” More >>