Would that it were. Mr. Man probably has an illustrious career ahead of him writing reports and press releases for the Fraser Institute;~)

I'm sure Fox News or the National Post would love to hire this guy as they never let facts get in the way of a good story.

After reading Alexandra Mortons supposed story I really wondered if you did any fact checking at all. Perhaps that is another story you should take a deeper look into.

How about "flack-checking", Sure you do?

Leaving aside the witty asides, this is how this sort of problem should be handled...Well done David. There are more than a few MSM editors who might learn a bit from the Tyee.

When the New York Times caught Jason Blair writing fabricated and plagiarized stories they did not remove the relevent stories from their website. Instead, the times added notes to the beginning of the stories explaining the situation and let the record stand. To do less, the Times explained, would hide both the dishonesty of the writer and the editorial lapses of the paper. Perhaps the Tyee should consider a similar approach.

Let me get this straight, KWL. This predictably left-wing site gets taken in by a fabrication, and this reflects on the National Post and Fox News? Back to reality, this Jayson Blair wannabe came recommended to Beers by an "experienced writer and teacher". Gee, does this mean the vertically integrated left in our university and college j-schools isn't reliable? Just who is this "experienced writer and teacher"?

Tom Fletcher, I think you protest a bit too much here. KWLs comments simply reminded readers that the National Post is known to have had numerous problems with false or plagerized stories in recent months. It now has a real reputation for publishing bad copy and it really doesn't make any difference whether the Post churns out "predictably left-wing" or the more traditional right-wing pap it is known for. You may deny that, the Aspers may deny it and even its former owner, our now-departed Canadian media mogul Conrad may deny it, but discerning readers can smell the rot once it takes hold. It suffers from the same Canwestitis that afflicks the Vancouver Sun, Province and the rest of that publishing empire's stable of nose-stretchers. I wonder if that "experienced writer and teacher" doesn't flog the occasional piece to the Sun.

geez- 10 responses and no one has blamed Gordon Campbell or Liberal policies yet? I think its great you stood up and admitted an error in process or procedures. If honesty were more prevalant in media as well as politics, maybe BC wouldnt be regarded as a land o' loonies by the rest of this country.

Well at least he didn't fabricate a memo during a police investigation like Adrian Dix did when Adrian worked for Premier Glen Clark.

Sure-you-do. I wonder if your work is as thorougly reviewed as Alexandra Morton's work is? How much did you get from Stolt for your post?

Thoroughly reviewed.

http://canstats.org/readdetail.asp?id=719

I recieve no money from any aquaculture organization for my posts.

Alexandra Morton is a doctor, a scientist - to indicate that she lies or fabricates is absurd. Amazing how these critics believe gordo the hawaiian drunk

Ahh no top dog. If you look closely you will find that Alexandra Morton has no academic credentials, not even a B.Sc. much less a doctorate. To say she is a scientist is the absurd statement. Morton has the R.P. Bio designation merely because Otto Langer, yes he of the Suzuki foundation, sponsored her for it. Alexandra Morton was never any kind of researcher, even her late husband was not a whale researcher but an underwater photographer.

Don't lose the sight of the spirit of the article. There is no one to blame here. The issue of some false journalism is nothing but familiar with the BC Liberals and FOX news as they fabricate numbers and news out of minute details. In my view, the story hit the issue hard and was to the point. It is a reality. It is what happens. So cry wolf but really, the story did what it was intended to do. However Mr. Man might want to try to write for the Examiner or other tabloids because he does have a small gift. Thank you.

A few weeks ago I caught Robert Fulford (National Post) claiming that Chomsky was a fan of Pol Pot. I challenged Fulford for this in a rather rude email, referring to him as a Judas for betraying the truth and called him a Frumian and other creative insults. To my surprise, he emailed me back and thanked me for my comments. The National Post, even more than the Sun and Province, seems desperate to support the Bush administration and all present and past American foreign policy, and a bit of faking seems to have slipped into their journalism code of theics lately, particularly since 2000. I wonder why.

As much as I personally distrust the majority of what i read in the media (independent and otherwise) it is not surprising to see these situations becomming more frequent. With the drive to "sell" more sensational stories and push entertainment or personality pieces becoming a primary motivator for story selection, it becomes apparent that fact checking has been replaced with source checking. I must say that I am pleased to see that The Tyee did not attempt to bury their findings (re: the embelishments of the said story) and readily admited their culpability and explained how the error was made and how it was rectified. This shows that the editors are sincere in their apology to the readers and have given us (the readers) the tools to do our own research and determine our own opinions as to the validity of their stories. Well done, and thank you for your honesty.

I do not think that those who have posted should be commenting on the teacher/writer or the student who fabricated the details; as you do not know them or the situation. I was in this class, and I feel that although what he did was beyond wrong, it is a choice that he made. Making snide comments about him is one thing, but our teacher has absolutely nothing to do with it. It was our responsibility to submit what we wanted to whomever we wanted; as it was also the expectation that what we were writing was the absolute truth of our own experiences and opinions. You cannot blame one person for another's stupidity.

Good work, Truman. That's the usual response of rightwingers that can't hide behind aliases: act surprised and innocent when you're confronted, as if your views aren't responsible for multiple deaths of the innocent...