On Horseshit, and The New York Times

Screenwriter John August on having one of his weblog posts grossly misrepresented by New York Times reporter Brooks Barnes in a story about the ongoing WGA strike:

Worse, by omitting what I actually said, the article creates the implication I said something much worse. Something — gulp! — unprintably awful. Which I didn’t. I said that the AMPTP’s offer on the table was horseshit. Which it was.

I think what’s especially wrong is that in addition to not quoting any words from the blog entry in question, The Times also neglected to include a URL to the post (or even to the home page of August’s weblog). I see this all the time — but only, of course, from publications rooted in print. I think anyone who reads what August actually wrote would agree that Barnes’s characterization of it as “vulgar” is, well, horseshit.

★ Tuesday, 1 January 2008