Tag Archives: toronto star

Plagiarist Gerald Posner reinvents himself as correction hunter for Karzai family

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Well, this is strange. Plagiarist Gerald Posner, who lost his job at the Daily Beast earlier this year and has since been accused of literary theft in his books as well, is now working as a lawyer and representing Qayum Karzai, brother of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, among other members of the Karzai family. Part of his new duties involves requesting corrections and "pursuing potential libel cases against his old colleagues in the Western media," according to Foreign Policy:

So far, Posner — who worked as a lawyer before becoming a journalist — says, his work on behalf of the Karzais has mostly involved pursuing potential libel cases against his old colleagues in the Western media, where the presidential family has taken a drubbing of late: The brothers have variously been accused of trafficking heroin, muscling their way into lucrative development projects, and selling materials for IEDs used against American troops. Posner hasn't filed any actual lawsuits yet, but says he is in contact with representatives of the New York Times, the New York Post, Fox News, the Toronto Star, and the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War think tank about reports they've published concerning the Karzais that he believes to be potentially libelous.

As evidence, see this correction from the Toronto Star:

A June 9 article about a Canadian dam project stalled in Afghanistan reported that sources in Kandahar told the Star that Qayum Karzai, brother of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, is the largest shareholder of Afghan security firm, Watan Risk Management. Karzai has since told the Star, through his U.S. lawyer, that he has no financial interest in Watan, which is operated by Rashid Popal, a cousin of the Karzai family.
According to Miami lawyer Gerald Posner: "At no time has Qayum Karzai ever had any financial or equitable interest in Watan Risk Management. At no time has he ever had any financial or equitable interest in any private security company in Afghanistan." Popal has also stated that Karzai does not own any shares in Watan.

The FP piece from July includes quotes from Posner. He says he's planning a comeback:

Posner says he hopes to eventually return to journalism — his big project is completing a book on the Vatican than he began several years ago. "I'm not comparing myself to Doris Kearns Goodwin," he says, referring to the historian who was similarly tarred as a plagiarist before becoming a bestselling author with her book on Abraham Lincoln's policy brain trust, Team of Rivals. "But what she did was disappear for a couple years and came back with a bulletproof, superb book. What I need to do is eventually come out with a book — it won't be about Afghanistan, but in three or four years I'll come back with that. And people will be able to say, he didn't put together two words from anyone."

Rest is fine

An Aug. 24 headline and photo caption described “summit protesters” checking in for a court appearance relating to charges from the G20 summit. Some in the photo were not among those charged but were counsel representing them, including Toronto lawyer David Midanik and his articling student. As well, the headline incorrectly stated that those charged were appearing in court for bail hearings. In fact, those who appeared in court this week had previously been released on bail. Link

All hockey teams are alike

An Aug. 11 photo caption accompanying an article about product placement in video games incorrectly identified one of the teams in NHL 10 as the Anaheim Ducks. In fact, the image was of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Link

Thanks, Gertie!

Fuzzy numbers etc.

A July 19 editorial about Canada’s infrastructure deficit incorrectly stated that one estimate is that Canada needs $123 million to bring municipal infrastructure up to a minimum state of repair. In fact, the estimate is $123 billion. Link

Fuzzy numbers etc.

The two sub-penthouses on the 51st floor of the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton are priced at $9 million each. A June 19 article about real estate agent Pat Baker incorrectly stated the price at $9 billion each. Link

Bat, not gun

A June 22 article about G8 security measures in Huntsville incorrectly said that resident Steve Groomes has a gun at the ready should protestors get by the army of police and soldiers scouring the brushes. In fact, what Groomes said in a jovial way was that: “I’ve got an Easton 32 in the house.” The Easton 32 is a baseball bat not a gun. The Star apologizes to Groomes for this misunderstanding. Link

And (amazingly):

We mistakenly said that he was charged with possessing a hand gun at Dolan’s Pub, Sunday’s Gate and we wish to point out that the actual charge is producing a wooden bat in the course of a dispute.

Thanks, Doug!

Apology

A May 18 article about the shooting death of a 15-year-old boy on Monday morning incorrectly identified Devante Beard as the victim. In fact, Devante Beard, 16, a student at York Memorial Collegiate, was not the victim in this shooting. The Star apologizes to Beard and his family. As Toronto police reported yesterday, the name of the 15-year-old killed in the shooting was Devonte Gondwe-Prosper. Link

Attacked, not raped

An April 7 photo caption accompanying an article about the high risk of rape for women in Haiti incorrectly identified Elmancia Dezameau as a rape victim. In fact, as the article correctly indicates, Dezameau was attacked when members of a group called Vengeance came to her home. She was not raped. Link

Hot — and now bothered

A Feb. 17 feature about Canada’s “hot” guys at the Vancouver Olympic Games incorrectly identified freestyle skier Ryan Blais as a 2010 Olympian and stated he would be competing on Feb. 22. In fact, Blais learned in late January that he did not make this year’s Olympic team. Link

Book now!

A Jan. 29 caption with a photo of the Howard Johnson hotel on Metropolitan Rd. in Scarborough provided an incorrect price for the cost of the room. As was correctly stated in the article about a list of Toronto’s “dirtiest hotels” a room at that hotel costs $89. Link

Correction boy to the rescue

A Jan. 19 image accompanying an article about Jason Kieffer’s new comic book, The Rabble of Downtown Toronto, incorrectly identified the cartoon as “Crazy Hand Lady.”
In fact, the drawing was “Rage Man.”
Link

A friend, but not friendly

torstar1Tad Friend is the author of Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor. A Nov. 22 review and photo caption of the book incorrectly identified Friend as Tad Friendly. Link

Sources of error

torstar1An Aug. 20 Living section article about the lack of services for homeless gay and lesbian youth featured the experience of a young man, Solomon Christiansen. The article reported that Christiansen felt he had no where to turn, left home, dropped out of school and began taking drugs because his mother’s boyfriend couldn’t accept his homosexuality. As well, the photo caption said that Christiansen lived on the street for a year.
However, the Star failed to validate these claims with Christiansen’s mother’s friend or to present this man’s side of the story.
The man, who was not named in the article, rejects the teen’s claims and the article’s suggestion that homophobia caused the teen to leave home.
The man further says that Christiansen was never homeless and that he received family help in seeking alternative living arrangements in the neighbourhood and in paying his rent and some living expenses.

Fuzzy numbers etc.

A Sept. 25 article about the proposed TTC 2010 capital budget incorrectly stated the amount needed to maintain the current system as $949 billion. In fact, $949 million will be needed to maintain the current system. Link

The misquote that defies defeat

torstar1A Nov. 14, 2004, column about the death of Yasser Arafat included an unverified quotation attributed to former Israel Defence Forces chief of staff Moshe Yaalon. Yaalon, now Israel’s strategic affairs minister, was quoted in that 2004 column as saying in 2002 that "the Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people." That quotation, while widely cited over the years, did not appear in the 2002 interview published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, to which it has been attributed. Alon Ofek-Arnon, a spokesman for Yaalon, told the Star in an email that Yaalon never said this. As well, in a correction about this same quote published March 6, 2009, by the Chicago Tribune, Ari Shavit, the writer of the 2002 Haaretz article, said Yaalon did not say that. The Star has been unable to reach Shavit. Link

Here’s the Tribune correction.

Bueller?

torstar1An August 4 article on the effect parasites have on sexual reproduction attributed a quote to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In fact, the quote was from another Matthew Broderick movie, WarGames.

Link

The curtains don’t match the carpet*

A reader sent this image of a photo/photo caption mismatch in the Toronto Star:

staroops

This is the image it was eventually replaced with:

correctstar

*Correction: The original headline on this post read "The curtains don’t match the drapes." That’s redundant. It has been corrected.

A convincing performance

torstar1A May 16 article about an upcoming biopic of Frank Sinatra included an incorrect photo. The photo labelled as a picture of Frank Sinatra was in fact the Toronto-based Frank Sinatra tribute artist, Rick Sonata. Link

Fuzzy numbers etc.

torstar1There are approximately 74,000 wind turbines currently operating in Europe, not 1,700 as was stated in a May 11 article about wind power.
A May 12 article about wind power incorrectly stated the current estimated cost of a new nuclear plant is $7,000 per megawatt of installed capacity. In fact, it is $7,000 per kilowatt.
Link

Fuzzy numbers etc.

torstar1A March 31 article about the lack of effectiveness of school gym class in reducing childhood obesity incorrectly stated that childhood obesity rates in Canada now stand at about 30 per cent.In fact, this estimate applies to combined overweight and obesity rates in Canadian children. The latest data published by Statistics Canada in 2006 placed childhood obesity rates in Canada at 8 per cent. Link

Martha’s empire

torstar1A March 14 article about Martha Stewart included incorrect information. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has a channel on Sirius Satellite Radio, Stewart does not own a radio station. Stewart’s housewares line is currently available in Macy’s stores. Stewart does not have an eco-flooring company but is participating in a multi-year agreement with FLOR, Inc. The Martha Stewart Show airs on the Fine Living Network, not on the Food Network or CBC television. Link

A misidentification pot pourri

hamilton_spectatorA photograph in yesterday’s Spectator mistakenly identified a man as Randy Kowaleski. Randy Kowaleski, pictured here, was injured in a bus crash in Mexico on Monday. His wife, Carolyn Kowaleski, was killed in the crash. The Spectator apologizes for the error and extends its sympathies to the family.
A photograph in yesterday’s Hamilton Spectator incorrectly identified a young musician.
He is Liam McGlashon, age 10.
A photo caption in Tuesday’s Spectator incorrectly identified winners of McMaster University’s Start-up Challenge. The names of the winners in the correct order are: Tim Pryor, left in photo, Terry Sachlos, centre, and Cristian Nunez, right.
A fish identified as a white perch in a photograph in yesterday’s Spectator is actually a yellow perch.
Link

The Toronto Star also used the wrong photo for Mr. Kowaleski:

A March 18 article about a bus accident in Mexico that claimed the lives of three Canadians included an incorrect photo. The photo identified as Randy Kowaleski, who was seriously injured in the crash, was actually of a neighbour of Kowaleski. Link

Tried in the press

torstar1A Feb. 26 article about Justice Arthur Gans incorrectly stated that David Stucky had been convicted of misleading advertising in connection with direct mail promotions in a trial presided over by Gans. In fact, Stucky was acquitted of the charges. Link

Ombuds tackle unpublishing articles, give thanks to readers

Two recent columns by newspaper ombudsmen caught my eye. Kathy English, public editor of the Toronto Star, wrote her latest column about the paper’s policy regarding the “unpublishing” of articles. An excerpt:

… Generally, the Star believes that unpublishing is a serious act as it erases the online history of the Star’s journalism. The Star’s policy on this states that while we indeed take seriously concerns of inaccuracy and will correct articles online, just as we do in the newspaper, we do not unpublish articles from our websites. This policy here is similar to that of other major newspapers, including the Washington Post, The New York Times and the Guardian.
If the Star ascertains that a mistake has been published, we correct it. Online, that means editing the text and also appending notes to the articles to tell readers that a correction has been made.
“Just as in print, the
Star stands behind what it publishes online. Our purpose is to disclose information, not to hide information because it makes someone unhappy,” says Neil Sanderson, the Star’s assistant managing editor, digital. “If things started disappearing from our websites, readers might suspect that we were trying to conceal an error.
“As well, the stories that we publish are part of the historical record of our city, our province and our country,” he said. “To remove these stories from our archive would leave holes in our history.”

Derek Donovan, readers’ representative at the Kansas City Star, dedicated his end of year column to thanking readers for helping the paper correct errors. Excerpt:

One of my most important jobs at The Kansas City Star is tracking the corrections that run on Page A-2, and I was recently reminded how vital a role readers play in that process …
While appending a correction last Friday, I remembered vividly the caller who’d pointed out the mistake — dollar amounts for police badges that didn’t make sense as written. I then flipped through the previous month’s corrections tally and realized just how many of them came directly from readers, many of whom had no personal interest other than a desire to see
The Star set the record straight …
The great collective wisdom of readers comes from the thousands of specialists who follow the news related to their specific areas of interest. I know I can always rely on military buffs to pick apart inaccurate descriptions of the patches on soldiers’ uniforms, or proud moms and dads who let me know when a school has sent in an incomplete team roster or honor roll. No mistake is truly trivial.
So I offer a sincere thanks to you, the readers. You’re directly responsible for alerting me to a huge percentage of those errors that result in corrections (435 so far this year).
The Star is obviously far from perfect, but your attention to detail makes it better.

Never worked the pole

torstar1A Jan. 24 article about tattoo artist Kat Von D wrongly referred to her as a former exotic dancer.
In fact, the reality TV celebrity has never worked as an exotic dancer. The Star regrets the error.
Link

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