A 2009 print edition of the NYTimes (Credit: Flickr, "Rene Schwietzke")

After being called out by its public editor for a lack of transparency in reporting on the Hillary Clinton emails and a possible investigation into them, The New York Times published a lengthy editors’ note on its website.

“The Times‘s coverage last week of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s use of a personal email account as secretary of state involved several corrections and changes that may have left readers with a confused picture,” the editors’ note states.

The original coverage was “based on multiple high-level government sources,” the editors’ note says, and the first change came after Clinton’s aides complained to a Times reporter. “After consultation between editors and reporters, the first paragraph was edited to say the investigation was requested ‘into whether sensitive government information was mishandled,’ rather than into whether Mrs. Clinton herself mishandled information.”

The Times‘s editors’ note acknowledged “that type of substantive change should have been noted immediately for readers; instead a correction was not appended to the article until hours later.

The editors’ note says the Times changed the description of the possible inquiry from “criminal” to “security” when the Justice Department said so. “Officials did not expand on why their earlier description was incorrect,” the Times wrote.

The editors’ note said even though the Times found out the inquiry was for “security” not “criminal” reasons on Friday afternoon, the online article wasn’t changed until Saturday. “Editors should have added a correction sooner to note that change,” the Times admitted.

The editors’ note will be published in print tomorrow on page A2, the Times‘ website states.

Hat Tip: Brian Stelter