Virginia Kruta, Associated Editor
Nick Sandmann’s attorney fired back at the Washington Post Friday, saying that the outlet’s attempt at correction via an editor’s note was “barely worth comment.”
When video of a confrontation between Native American elder Nathan Phillips and Covington Catholic High School junior Nick Sandmann went viral, many outlets — including WaPo — jumped on the narrative without waiting for the full story. (RELATED: The Real Story Behind The Catholic School Boys And Their Dust Up With A Native American Elder)
Sandmann was quickly painted as a racist bully — but video that surfaced just hours later showed that he had simply stood his ground while being berated by a nearby group of Black Hebrew Israelites and then approached by Phillips, who beat his drum in Sandmann’s face.
The Post offered up an editor’s note Friday, explaining that new information had come to light since the initial article was posted.
The Post has issued an Editor’s Note about updates to its initial coverage of the Jan. 18 incident at the Lincoln Memorial: https://t.co/rhzKZ1715K
We’ve also deleted this Jan. 19 tweet in light of later developments. For more, see the Editor’s Note. pic.twitter.com/O7qCSnBMPO
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 1, 2019
What the editor’s note did not include was the fact that the bulk of that “new information” was available within 48 hours of their initial story — but it was not until some 40 days had passed and a massive lawsuit was filed that any attempt to issue a correction was made.
Todd McMurtry, one of Sandmann’s attorneys, told Reason that the editor’s note was certainly not enough to change anything.
What The Washington Post put out is barely worth comment. WaPo committed gross journalistic malpractice and cannot undo its deeds with an editor’s note that purports to correct the record over a month after it led a frenzied mob in trashing a minor’s reputation. The Sandmanns would never accept half of a half-measure from an organization that still refuses to own up to its error.
Fellow attorney Lin Wood offered a similar take on the situation, promising a full response to a letter from the Jeff Bezos-owned outlet on Monday.
https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1101654826318991360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1101654826318991360&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdailycaller.com%2F2019%2F03%2F02%2Fcovington-sandmann-lawyer-wapo-editors-note%2F
https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1101845161443815425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1101845161443815425&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdailycaller.com%2F2019%2F03%2F02%2Fcovington-sandmann-lawyer-wapo-editors-note%2F
Wood’s tweet indicated that the $250 million lawsuit was still going ahead as planned, saying, “Media bully learns no lesson until it pays for damage, unequivocally admits wrongdoing & pledges to never again bully & falsely attack child without proper investigation.”
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