Production and Design editor Will Vanderbilt is on a crusade, in the whimsical style of a certain masked avenger best known for studiously avoiding eye contact with any former Daily editor he encounters. But considering Vanderbilt’s sloppy performance so far in documenting this blog-off, is it any surprise that his latest piece includes a substantial factual error?
Yesterday, Vanderbilt referred to me as “unemployed,” which is untrue, and therefore defamatory. Although he later made a reluctant correction, the sloppiness doesn’t end there. Vanderbilt implies today that, when I was unable to write a daily blog-off post earlier this week due to internet problems, I could have simply headed to one of Montreal’s many wireless cafes. But a simple fact-check would have revealed that I have not been in Montreal for over a month. A three-second Facebook search would have confirmed this, as would a quick discussion with one of Vanderbilt’s more professional colleagues, such as Max Halparin. Will Vanderbilt correct this glaring error? And what reforms will be put into place to avoid catastrophes like this in the future?
2 Comments
January 21, 2009 at 1:28 pm
[...] gets a post in right before noon today aimed squarely at this reporter: Yesterday, Vanderbilt referred to me as “unemployed,” which is untrue, and therefore [...]
January 22, 2009 at 7:40 pm
[...] Published Work Is Vanderbilt incompetent, or just lazy? [...]