The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz apologized to Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren after misquoting her as joking that Hillary Clinton’s recent hospitalization was an “immaculate concussion.” That comment was made by Laura Ingraham, not Van Susteren.
Van Susteren had called for a “PRONTO” correction “in a BIG WAY” (emphasis hers) after the Daily Beast‘s misquote, noting “I said I believed she was seriously ill and did not like the snarky remarks.” Van Susteren added that she didn’t want the Daily Beast‘s correction to be “hidden in some little footnote” and in follow-up post, she explained:
“Mistakes sit on the internet forever so the corrections have to be prominent to overshadow the mistakes – that is fair.”
Later, Van Susteren pointed to and thanked The Daily Beast‘s Howard Kurtz for his Jan. 2 blog post apologizing for the misquote and admitting that he was at fault. While editing, Kurtz said he inserted the error in the story by mis-attributing the comment to Van Susteren. Kurtz wrote:
“I’m always calling on journalists to admit their mistakes; today it’s my turn.
“I want to apologize to Fox’s Greta Van Susteren for adding incorrect information about her to a Daily Beast article.”
The article in question, which carries Lauren Ashburn’s byline, now carries an “editor’s note” at the bottom of the article — not a “correction” — apologizing for mis-attributing the quote.
Hat Tip: Media Bistro’s TV Newser