By Rick Pearcey* No Shame: "It's official," writes columnist Michelle Malkin. "The editors of the New York Times have no shame. Don't take my word for it. Listen to the Times' own ombudsman, Byron Calame."
* NYT Ombudsman Debunks NYT Story: "On Sunday, Mr. Calame wrote a stunning column debunking an April 9 New York Times Magazine cover story on abortion in El Salvador. The sensational piece by freelance writer Jack Hitt alleged that women there had been thrown in prison for 30-year terms for having had abortions. Mr. Hitt described his visit to one of them, inmate Carmen Climaco. 'She is now 26 years old, four years into her 30-year sentence' for aborting an 18-week-old fetus, Mr. Hitt reported."
* NYT Story Utterly False: "The magazine featured heart-rending photos of Climaco's 11-year-old daughter, eyes filled with tears as she clutched a photo of her jailed mom. Cruel. Horrible. Outrageous. And utterly, demonstrably, false. Climaco was actually convicted of murder for strangling her newborn baby [emphasis added] . . . ."
* Facts vs. Reporting: "The facts did not fit with Mr. Hitt's pro-abortion narrative. Authorities found Climaco's dead baby hidden in a box wrapped in bags under her bed. Moreover, Lifesite reported, forensic examination showed it was a full-term normal delivery. The child was breathing at birth. The official cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation. . . ."
* Infanticide for Pro-Abortion Poster Child: "The Times' pro-abortion poster child is a woman convicted of infanticide. But the Times, questioned by its own public editor, refuses to acknowledge Jack Hitt's false reporting. There is 'no reason to doubt the accuracy of the facts as reported,' the editors imperiously told Mr. Calame."
* NYT Keeps Readers in Dark: "They refuse to issue a correction, publish an Editors' Note or inform their readers of the ready availability of the court decision that exposes Jack Hitt's deception about the Climaco case."
* Slinging Bull: "Mr. Calame concluded that 'Accuracy and fairness were not pursued with the vigor Times readers have a right to expect.' That's too polite. The Times slung bull and refuse to clean it up."
* Textbook Media Malpractice: "The Times' Climaco-gate, like the Associated Press' Jamil Hussein-gate and Reuters' fauxtography scandal and CBS's Rathergate, will go down in mainstream history as yet another case of textbook media malpractice."
Read "All the Fibs Fit to Print," by Michelle Malkin, here.
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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.
