World News EP Jon Banner, whose quote in this TVNewser post was cited in the response letter by New Yorker columnist Steve Coll today, emailed this comment:
Imagine my surprise when I read Steve Coll’s response to David Westin’s letter regarding the New Yorker’s factually incorrect story about ABC News’ interviews with Governor Palin. Now, a week after his first series of errors, Coll is trying to justify his piece by pointing to my quote to TVNewser — a quote that is taken completely out of context. Is it possible that the New Yorker, which prides itself on its rigorous fact-checking, couldn’t afford to make one phone call to ask me what those comments referred to? Had he done so prior to publishing either his original, error riddled piece or his response to Westin’s letter, Coll would have learned that his assumption was completely wrong. A little old-fashioned thing called reporting would have been a service to the New Yorker’s readers.
> Earlier: New Yorker Column Short on Facts, Long on Attacks of ABC News.