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END OF THE LANE
Sunday Age columnist and Jesse Macbeth dupe Terry Lane has resigned:
There are three unforgivable sins in journalism: plagiarism, fabrication and failing to check the facts. I am guilty of the last.
It came about like this. My attention was drawn to what looked like a professionally packaged documentary video in which “US Ranger” (I now know that that is bogus) Jesse Macbeth recounts his experiences as a soldier in Iraq, where he claimed to have served for 16 months.
I was completely taken in by his fake sincerity. That, I suppose, could be excusable for any person with no responsibility to check bona fides, but in my case I fell for it because I wanted to believe it. That is inexcusable. As soon as I was made aware of what I had done I offered my resignation to Peter Fray, the editor of The Sunday Age. I have embarrassed the newspaper for which I have written since the first issue which makes me ashamed.
There are no excuses. No extenuating circumstances. Opinion writers are not expected to be objective and disinterested but that doesn’t give licence to be indifferent to facts. I should have checked.
Via subscription site Crikey; no link. (Incidentally, Crikey makes a mistake of its own, writing that “there are few leftie scalps that right-wing Australian commentators like Tim Blair – who’s lapping it up this morning – would be happier to claim.” The post they link to went up on Sunday.)
All credit to readers Dale and Tony T. for this one.
UPDATE. Further from the Australian, which notes: “The column was still on the paper’s website last night.”
UPDATE II. Chrisgo reports:
Jon Faine (ABC 774 Melb.) has just completed a 30 min. interview with Eric Beecher (Crikey) about Terry Lane’s blunder and “journalistic ethics” without once uttering the words “Tim Blair”.
Just as well. The last time Beecher mentioned me, he got everything wrong.
As someone who listened to Terry Lane when he had the afternoon program on 3LO during the 80s, I found myself bored by his Sunday programme over the last couple of years.
At least he has done the honourable thing here.Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2006 08 01 at 02:37 AM • permalinkThere are no excuses. No extenuating circumstances.
Then why did he casually mention that he has written for the newspaper since its first issue?
It would seem he’s looking for a bit of undeserved sympathy. No doubt the letters page will provide it.
I do however give him credit for doing the honourable thing. A pity that Ed O’Loughlin and numerous others wouldn’t dream of it.
I was completely taken in by his fake sincerity. That, I suppose, could be excusable for any person with no responsibility to check bona fides, but in my case I fell for it because I wanted to believe it. That is inexcusable.
No normal person would want to believe that stuff was true. The real mindest of the left, well and truly on display.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 08 01 at 02:45 AM • permalinkCrikey reports:
Sunday Age editor Peter Fray told Crikey today he is “currently reviewing our fact-checking measures in the light of this column”. But “regrettable as this error is, I am currently of the view that our practices at the Sunday Age are not deeply flawed,” says Fray, who adds that “we will obviously be apologising to our readers and setting the record straight”.
Good one, Peter Fray, not! First, the website version is still up (5.30pm) and there is no clarification or apology with it. That is slack ,disgraceful and unprofessional. As I write, school teachers are doubtless downloading the piece to shove down their students’ throats tomorrow. Second, the Sunday Age’s ‘fact-checking measures’ to date on this sort of material obviously = zero.
What’s worse, when Lane previously committed Leftie howlers, The Sunday Age on occasion has refused to publish letters pointing out the factual inaccuracies and baseless slurs, and on another occasion, ran further letters that abused the person pointing out the inaccuracy and slurs.
In other words, Age policy until now has been to defend Lane from criticism no matter how vilely untruthful his column was (I don’t mean biased, I mean factually wrong).
Note also that Lane himself has previously failed to correct his own howlers. He has even repeated them in later columns.
Now here’s betting that as a replacement for Lane, they select an equally rabid Leftoid.#5 “No normal person would want to believe that stuff was true.”
I wanted to say that. Underlying the whole thing is the mentality of the adversary culture, the people who enjoy all the benefits of prosperity and freedom that democratic capitalism has delivered, and they want to put it down the tube.
Infidel Tiger nails it. This guy, in his own words, WANTED TO BELIEVE that US troops were brutalizing Iraqi civilians just for the hell of it. He WANTED TO BELIEVE that they were doing evil, sadistic things to innocent people. Anyone willing to bet on whether he’ll actually take a few seconds to reflect on what this might imply? Anyone? Bueller?
I hope his resignation was accepted.
Well it’s time for me to step up and offer my own retraction (like anyone cares), I said that there was no way Lane would resign and the paper would shamelessly brush off the error. He proved me wrong so I have to say full marks for integrity go to Lane.
For what it’s worth, I think gloating is misplaced, Lane made a bad error and accepted the consequences honestly, he deserves respect for that.
Also nice to see him admit he wanted to believe it. Why would you want to believe that US troops were commiting war crimes I wonder?
All very well our ol’ mate Shady Lane offering his resignation.
Has it been accepted?
I never believe anything that Crikey claims anyway. Stephen Mayne was sued for defamation on almost a weekly basis it seemed, and the new owners haven’t lifted the standard by much.
Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2006 08 01 at 03:35 AM • permalink#5 Infidel Tiger indeed sums up the true failure of Terry Lane, and the the ultimate cause of failure for the left.
“Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet.” [African proverb]
Posted by MentalFloss on 2006 08 01 at 03:44 AM • permalinkTerry Lane’s credibility was zero with me.
That he has the ability not just to apologise for what he did, but to expose the root cause, that he wanted to believe it, means I’ll start treating him as a possibly reliable future source.
The problem is not with people who know they’re biased, and fight against it. It’s with those who don’t know, or worse, those who don’t care.
Terry Lane may be ignorant, incompetent, and just plain wrong, but I see a glimmer of hope. He has Integrity. With that as a base, anything is possible. Maybe he’ll examine his own world view, and even gain a little objectivity. OK, Pigs might fly too, but it’s not impossible, such things have happened.
Maybe they’ve only put him out to pasture. This is what I sent to the “Letters to Editor” (won’t be published of course):
I quote from Terry Lane’s article “Turning a blind eye to the real horrors”:
“Operation Iraqi Freedom is more like Operation Iraqi Slaughter. Macbeth describes going into a basement bomb shelter looking for insurgents.
“We had to go in there and make sure everything was dead. So whether there were women and children, if they weren’t dead, we had to finish them off and drag their bodies out.”“.
Heart rending stuff. Or it would be if it wasn’t complete drivel. Please ask Mr Lane to check his facts about US Ranger Jesse Macbeth and have another stab at writing the article. No, better still, obtain a lucerne paddock agistment and put him out to pasture.
Is this really the level that journalism has sunk to in Australia? Or is it a hoax? Surely it’s a hoax, I can’t believe an Australian newspaper would knowingly publish anything quite so stupid.
Posted by Whale Spinor on 2006 08 01 at 03:50 AM • permalinkOf course, if this sets a precedent there will be no one left at Fairfax.
Bit of a worry when the real estate classifieds and the personals have more truth in them than the reporting.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2006 08 01 at 04:17 AM • permalinkLane’s diatribe has a completely disingenuous tone to me.
1. I have been caught propogating an outrageous lie
2. The fall on the sword strategy is always best in these circumstances
3. Woe is me. I have offered my resignation showing what an honest fellow I really am
4. Peeps out from under covers. Have they fallen for it yet?
5. Yep.
6. Business as usual…There are new cases of torture at Guantanamo Bay…dum de dum…<taps away on keyboard>...<whistles happily>...Posted by Jack Lacton on 2006 08 01 at 04:27 AM • permalink#11
If it was Antony Lowenstein, he’d say that pointing out his egregious mistake was a censorious attack.
How typical of you try and censor him by calling him an anti-semite. This is exactly the kind of thing he has come to expe…Oh. Wait. You didn’t. Well… How dare you.. Uh…
#24
Of course, if this sets a precedent there will be no one left at Fairfax.
This could be part of a grand conspiracy to downsize!
...I fell for it because I wanted to believe it.
&
There are no excuses. No extenuating circumstances.
Now that’s an apology - one the entire left might need one day. Well done at the end Mr Lane. The first step is to admit you have a problem. Perhaps this will lead to some rumination of all the things you want to believe. Something we all need to do every now and then.
#25: Jack Lacton,
I agree. Comments re Terry Lane’s integrity and honour are misplaced. He’s a liar, and his apology should have simply stated that.
Peter Fray is worse: the paper clearly has no fact checkers, so why suggest they have? 15 seconds on Google would have raised a red flag. There was no fact checking.
Terry Lane wants to be a fireman with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen.
He likes to keep his fire engine clean,
It’s a clean machine.Terry Lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
A four of fish and finger pies
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And she feels as if she’s in a playTenny Lane the barber shaves another customer,
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim.
And then the fireman rushes in
From the pouring rain, very strange.Off topic, other than an interesting mistake, had to share it.
Maybe it was well known in NSW but was a surprise to me.
Lebanon was due to play soccer in Adelaide. Just had a rep of Adelaide soccer on the news saying that we were to get a compensation friendly game because they have pulled out.
Why, because we were supposed to get Kuwait, but the NSW government asked SA to swap Kuwait for Lebanon because they were concerned about ethinic problems if Lebaonon played in Sydney.
Speaking of TV and lack of control -
Try this link (reminiscent of Mental Floss’ roundup of tech expertise yesterday).
IDF hacks Al-Manar TV.Does anyone recon this would have happened before the days of the internet?
Readers have controll of what they check on, not an ABC hivemind. Having said that its not all shits and giggles, it also allows more conspiracy nuts (what really happened, Im looking at you) to support each others dellusions as well.
As someone who spent long periods of time with the ABC and Mr Lane on nightshifts may I bid him a fond “good riddance to bad rubbish, and take Philly with you”.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2006 08 01 at 06:54 AM • permalinkThat Tony T is starting to get on my tits. I bet it’s an alias.
Posted by Tony.T.Teacher on 2006 08 01 at 07:03 AM • permalink#39- A bit of a brawl really, but at least the Four-By-Twos showed some manners, and questioned if they were doing the right thing; there was no vascillation from the other side about the rightousness and worth of lobbing large numbers of poorly guided ordnance into civilian built-up areas.
And wasn’t that fat little pompous turd from The Age a peach? A strident, ineffectual lefty twerp from Central Casting- maybe he’s angling for Shady’s spot.
#41- Wonderful- a sporting event has to be relocated at great cost in a free, Western democracy because of “fears of ethnic trouble”. Ain’t multiculturalism a hoot? I’ve got a more practical solution- hold the match in Sydney, but include in the ticket cost a factor to cover the cost of employing large numbers of amphetemine-scoffing Maoris, Tongans, muscle-builders and bikies, and issue them with pick handles. The first Habib to open his kebab cooler or light a flare gets swarmed like a cream bun in a fat camp, no more “ethnic trouble”.
Easier than catching a lefty scribe telling porkies.
39 and 44.
Watched Insight. Aside from Jenni completely misrepresenting that poor Israeli woman who was there with her lebanese friend, and who had to force jenni to let her clarify, it was a bit of a debacle.However Mr Ibrahim whatever, Hizbollah man and strong activist in the Castro Toastmasters (on and on and on, getting more aggressive and saying less and less). Catch him saying what hiding amongst civilians was really about?
approximate - that “we” don’t understand, Hizbollah are the people, Hizbollah are not hiding amongst civilians.
“It is the people who are fighting”So who are the non combatants in south Lebanon exactly. We would think at least kids, I don’t think this boyo thinks so.
Jack Lacton (#25) has the call in my book. Very perceptive, you have a good crystal ball, jack.
Lane will fall on the sword, quote in suitable heartfelt apologetic mannner “I am so, so, so sorry for “being misled, snivel, mea culpa,”
*anyone looking?* -> Nope
“Evil fucking Jooos, GWB, hoWARd are at it again, harshing my mellow, man, troops out of
Vietnamthat Ayerab place near where the Jooos live”Business as usual, bashing away at the Age’s keyboard.
When I see that Lane’s resignation has actually been accepted by Age management I will start to believe it.
O/T, nice to see you back, Habib.
Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2006 08 01 at 07:36 AM • permalinkIts good to see Lane caught our and made accountable but where does this leave Media Watch?
This bloke was caught out and eventually resigned because of his disgraceful behaviour - exactly the sort of media issue that MW is supposedly there to monitor.
Yet despite being alerted to the matter they did not want to know about it, presumably because it involved one of their lefty mates.
An explanation/apology from them is surely warranted.
Crimes of ommission?34 AlphaMikeFoxtrot
I haven’t looked, but by any chance, did Terry Lane resemble this Adios Motherf*cker OR this Adios Motherf*ucker?
Maybe a combination of both?
Oh BTW, Adios Mother F*cker is also, well, a kick ass drink…:).
#55- the Hezbollah spokesjihadi stated clearly to me that everyone in Sth Lebanon is a member of Hezbollah, and thus all legitimate targets; nice of him to absolve the IDF of responsibility for any civilian casualties. What a maroon.
BTW, surprising indeed that Ants wasn’t there, flogging his weighty tome. I reckon he’s on a winner- it’ll be the coffee table occupier du jour for every moonbat with a postcode with more than two zeros, giving such cred to same (it’s anti-Israel, but it’s written by a Jew so it can’t be anti-Semitic, and he also thinks John Howard and George Bush are big jobbies. And he’s got a dog called Chomsky- I’m starting to get moist). Not only the coffeehouse cruisers, he’s got the conspiracy theory kook, the nazi nonce and the fundie/fatwa fan demographics covered; some of the latter may not be fluent in English, but then again it’s not exactly written in English either. I don’t think there’s going to be too many on the remainder tables.
Success can be a good thing for us as well- he might use the proceeds to follow his mentor, foreward writer and fellow flat-earth fan of psychotics John Pilger off to the old dart to bore the strides off poor bloody Poms on BBC2 and in The Independent (literacy and accuracy not a pre-requisite).#39 I watched it. Jenny definitely heard what she wanted from the two friends, even though the Jewish girl said her opinions were the opposite of her friends.
As for Mughrabi what a twit. http://news.sbs.com.au/media/images/8540mughrabi_maher_lebanon_bio.jpg Check out his bio:
Mr. Maher Mughrabi is a journalist for ‘The Age’. He is also a writer and a member of the Palestinian Diaspora.
Born in Scotland, his journalism career kicked off in Dubai, United Arab Emirates more than a decade ago with an English-language daily newspaper, ‘The Khaleej Times’...
He has spoken and presented at many conferences pertaining to Palestinian and Middle Eastern Affairs.http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/content.php?panel=1
I nearly threw up when he applauded the Hezbollah spokesman.
Seems a perfect journalist to write for The Age though. Nice and balanced in his thoughts and ideas.Not to worry. Lane will wind up working for the New York Times. He’ll win a Pulitzer prize while there and the NY Times when asked in 50 years (if the NYT is still around) to return it because it was earned on the basis of vicious lives that cost lives will wind up building a special case for it in a place of honor.
the spokesjihadi (thanks habib) from the lebanese government on lateline has just been saying that he backs hezbollah
& on sbs there’s a doco defending the symbionese liberation army bombers, murderers, bank robbers & kidnappers & castigating the fbi for killing a few of them
i want my 10 cents back
The complaint about the Terry Lanes, Dan Rathers, and Mary Mapes is that their “fake but accurate” brand of reporting has nothing to do with objective reporting but is instead biased opinion making. The issues affecting the world today are dangerous, important, and urgent. We need facts, not mendacious lies.
Their refusal to give us facts evidences an egregious breach of professional responsibility to serve the public.
Posted by wronwright on 2006 08 01 at 09:23 AM • permalinkIt seems he is doing the honorable and correct thing.
Posted by Mr. Bingley on 2006 08 01 at 09:57 AM • permalinkTo be fair, I can’t imagine an American journalist tendering his resignation like that unless he was being pushed with both feet by an embarrassed management. Terry may have just killed his chances of ever working at the NY Times or the Boston Globe.
It’s probably too much to hope, though, that he can mature from admitting his blunder to examining the beliefs that led to it. The modern left only thrives because too many people are unwilling to question the lies it tells daily.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 08 01 at 10:14 AM • permalinkIt seems, Mr Bingley, that he has offered his resignation.
I await the acceptance of that resignation with bated breath.
I’m off to the bookie tomorrow to get odds it won’t happen.
Age newspaper management are known dissemblers.
“Much ado about SFA” to mangle the Bard.
Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2006 08 01 at 10:17 AM • permalinkTrue, Pedro, we’ll see if it’s accepted. But since even a broken watch must be given its due when it correctly tells the correct time twice a day, so we should gracefully acknowledge when those on the other side of the aisle confess an error and act appropriately.
Posted by Mr. Bingley on 2006 08 01 at 11:11 AM • permalink<tic>Why did he stay so long with the paper if the first issue made him ashamed? That’s what he said here: “I have embarrassed the newspaper for which I have written since the first issue which makes me ashamed.” So embarrassing the newspaper didn’t shame him, but writing for the first issue did. Sweet!</tic>
His “knell is knoll’d” good and proper.
Posted by harry hutton on 2006 08 01 at 11:26 AM • permalinkWell compared to Dan Rather - this chap seems like a paragon of honesty just for this admission
Can anyone get Dan Rathers reaction -
“Courage”
Posted by Pogue Mahone on 2006 08 01 at 11:28 AM • permalinkIn my letter to The Age, I stated that Lane’s editor was equally culpable and should similarly be shown the exit. Guess that didn’t/isn’t going to happen.
I suppose Lane should be commended for not attempting a variation of the fake but accurate meme or suggesting that even though the Jesse Macbeth story was a hoax, it still is the perfect metaphor for OIF. I suppose.
Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2006 08 01 at 11:28 AM • permalinkDespite the vitriol shown above, he can expect to be forgiven. That is the response of decent people, even if we do not receive it in return.
Like hell. He willingly accepted, failed to check, and then spread slanderous lies. Decent people will not forgive him; they’ll shun him. He should be reduced to either living off his savings for the rest of his life, or performing menial work far from anything involving trust with the truth.
Posted by Rob Crawford on 2006 08 01 at 12:47 PM • permalinkThere’s a long list of careers that end when a person makes a mistake; be it by omission, oversight, negligence or lapse in judgement. When someone broadcasts such a howler simply because it was an inflammatory piece that was aligned with his pre-conceived notions, and he fails to conduct any basic work for which his profession is based, then his ability to work in that field should be questioned.
The lights will be burning late tonight at Fairfax, but my $$‘s are on Lane surviving by virtue of the old “please forgive me, I failed, but I meant well, blah blah, blah”
Down the track, the ruthless editorial bastards will dump him, but not immediately, because sacking and howling means damage to the reputation of their paper. Bet it’s covered up, swept aside or never mentioned again.
Spivs.
A reminder that that something like 60% of Australians rely on TV or newspapers for their news. This exposure of Lane the Liar might be huge news in the blogosphere, but it is not even a blip on the radar for that 60%.
Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2006 08 01 at 01:48 PM • permalink“Go and sin no more.”
If only things were still as simple as they were in Biblical times! But in modern times, we must deal with the fact that far more simple lies can easily kill a hundred people at a time, and on occassion as many as three thousand.
What’s the solution? Is it to commit mass suicide, before the human race becomed any more advanced? Is it to learn to ignore the murder of thousands, someday possibly millions, as just “the work of some two-bit lie-crazed fanatics,” the better to follow Biblical exhortations to “turn the other cheek?”
I prefer to pin the liars down under the harsh light of truth, to shrivel them in shame until there are no more followers who would either kill or die for their cause.
Posted by Tatterdemalian on 2006 08 01 at 02:28 PM • permalinkDarn you anthony27! I had a very clever remark along the lines of “maybe WebDiary is hiring…he seems overqualified for them, however”. And you went and beat me to the punch. Gah!
Posted by Major John on 2006 08 01 at 02:36 PM • permalinkIt’s not “wanted to believe” it’s DOES believe.
The very first “fact checking” that any one of us does is ask the question, “Does this sound plausible?” If it doesn’t pass that test, we look into it more carefully.
It wasn’t the apparent sincerity of Jesse McBeth that gave his story credence, it’s that some people (and now MORE people) simply believe that that is the sort of thing that our soldiers DO. What surprises them is when the information manages to leak out, not that it happens. They already know it happens.
Random anectdote… I never watched Michael Moore’s 9-11 film. I was at a seminar last weekend and the speaker, talking about movie ratings, used that movie as an example saying that it got the R rating because he wouldn’t remove the obscene (kill the motherf**ker?) rap music playing in the tank because it was important to show how our soldiers are conditioned to kill by our government. There was not even the *slightest* note of question in this woman’s voice.
It’s not questioned, not because people *want* to believe it, but because they DO.
#85 While you’re in a forgiving mood, please forgive the surgeon who failed to check the medical chart and removed a healthy gall bladder instead of a cancerous spleen. The patient died. He failed in his professional duty. Please forgive as he did the honourable thing and admitted his mistake, and if you are in need of some surgery please contact me and I’ll send you his name.
Stats,
Of course, the surgeon committed no offense against me, and therefore does not need my forgiveness. But it sounds like it happened to someone close to you.
If so you have my condolences.That would be a helluva mistake to make. Did the surgeon receive no penalty for it? You couldn’t sue him? His license wasn’t suspended? Was he ever tried for negligence?
It occurs to me that many people don’t understand what forgiveness means. It does not mean that we automatically trust the person again. Far from it. Trust is earned. We trust surgeons with people’s lives because they go through a lot of specialized training. If they blow it then there’s no reason to trust them again, and you would be wise to find someone else. It sounded for a minute as though you were wishing poor medical care on me. But if that is the case, I forgive you.
Forgiveness also does not mean that there will be no penalty. Only that penalties are decided on a just, community basis, not by personal vendetta. If the surgeon’s negligence lead to a person’s death, you can’t kill the surgeon in response. You can help the justice system to punish him according to the law.
In regard to Mr. Lane - he has publicly repented of his mistake. Can’t you forgive someone who is repentent? And if not, what does that tell others about you?
At 9.30am Wed, The Age still has Lane’s piece on the website without explanation or correction.
On p2 of The Age today is the standard “Correction Policy” box:
It is the policy of The Age to correct all significant errors as soon as possible. The Age is committed to presenting information fairly and accurately.
This says it all about the ethics of The Age. I suppose the weekday Age would claim to be separate from the Sunday Age and hence not responsible for the Sunday Age’s stuff-ups. See again The Age’s correction policy above. In any event, the Lane piece is on The Age website, not any Sunday Age website.#97 Dan
Mr Mughrabi is a member of the Palestinian diaspora in the same way that Loewenstein is a member of the Israeli diaspora…
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 08 01 at 08:03 PM • permalinkOh, no, Crikey was quite right, ol’ son—such a force for righteousness is the bloghead, such a vengeful talent for oversight of his bruvver journos. Oh that’s right, “journalist” has been removed from all promotional material. Why?
Posted by Miranda Divide on 2006 08 01 at 08:35 PM • permalinkGood morning Miranda, you seem to have risen from the wrong side of the bed this morning.
Do you endorse Mr Lane’s I Want To Believe excuse?
—Nora
Posted by The Thin Man Returns on 2006 08 01 at 08:42 PM • permalink#100 Greetings oh great Miranda. Please be patient with lesser mortals who so often give the impression of having no idea what you are on about.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2006 08 01 at 09:17 PM • permalink#95 Merlin:
“It occurs to me that many people don’t understand what forgiveness means. It does not mean that we automatically trust the person again. Far from it. Trust is earned. We trust surgeons with people’s lives because they go through a lot of specialized training. If they blow it then there’s no reason to trust them again, and you would be wise to find someone else. It sounded for a minute as though you were wishing poor medical care on me. But if that is the case, I forgive you.”
OK OK. Lane is forgiven. And will not be trusted. Still.
This is a very classy resignation statement. He even in effect admits bias was at the bottom of it.
It seems honest, and if it’s not, then (as they say): If you can fake sincerity, then you’ve got it made.
Posted by James Lindgren on 2006 08 01 at 11:11 PM • permalinkwell well, some time around 11 am Wed The Age finally got around to removing the Terry Lane/jesse Macbeth piece from the website—- maybe because I sooled Crikey’s Jane Nethercote (again) on to Sunday Age editor Peter Fray to ask how the continuance of the piece on the website could be reconciled with The Age’s stated daily policy to correct all errors ‘as soon as possible’.
There is no explanation for why the piece has been removed, again contrary to the corrections policy.
Worse, The Age still has the gall to charge viewers $2.20 to view the piece on their archive site:
Turning a blind eye to the real horrors
THE inquiry into the death of Private Jake Kovco goes on. And on. For what purpose? The protracted inquiry is clearly politically driven, but why?
The Sunday Age 30/07/2006 Cost - $2.20 583 words
Shouldn’t The Age be liable under the Trade Practices Act for knowingly selling faulty goods?Shouldn’t The Age be liable under the Trade Practices Act for knowingly selling faulty goods?
An excellent point percypup. It’s illegal to sell goods which are not fit for the purpose they sold for.
—Nora
Posted by The Thin Man Returns on 2006 08 02 at 12:39 AM • permalink#87 He should be reduced to either living off his savings for the rest of his life, or performing menial work far from anything involving trust with the truth.
This vitriol reminds me of the time John “Chook” Raper described the 62-0 thrashing Manly handed his beloved St George as “Worse than Hiroshima”.
(to which Roy Slaven remarked “Gee, that’s a big call”)I have always disliked Terry Lane. His particular brand of loopy left I reckon is downright toxic. Now I feel the man is pathetic – as in pathos, the true meaning of the word.
How can a man be so consumed by hatred of his fellow man (and presumably himself), that when he writes lies he admits to wishing they were true. This is a seriously unhinged person.
In his mea culpa he says “in my case I fell for it because I wanted to believe it. That is inexcusable.”
Sure is Terry. I think we can safely assume that America or no American has ever hurt Terry Lane. Why then the bitterness and hatred towards them? That he so wishes to believe the worst of them?
It is a sickness and as he wanders off into his journalistic wilderness, let him reflect upon his hatred and how it brought him undone.
Terry Lane is the embodiment of everything nasty and unpleasant about much of the Left. We are well rid of this haunted, sad, crippled man.
Can’’t you forgive someone who is repentent [sic]? And if not, what does that tell others about you?
#95 I assume you are trying to invoke the Christian principle of repentance. If so, you’ve got it wrong. Only the Maker of the Universe can forgive the truly repentant, for only the Master and His Son can know who is truly repentant. In any event, you don’t forgive by suing or mouthing meaningless generalities. Moreover, neither you or I are in a position to “forgive” Lane. If a man murders your child, you are in a position to “forgive”; the stranger down the street is not. The only one(s) who can forgive Lane are those who have been damaged by Lane. In this case, it would be the US Military and all the citizens of that nation. A left wing nut braying from the high “moral” ground of vacuous forgiveness, is in no position to preach “forgiveness”.
And if not, what does that tell others about you?
It should tell them that my toleration of fools, including illiterate ones, is limited. By the way, since you are so keen on “repentance”, you should at least learn how to spell the word.The Age used to have a “we were wrong” column where they would admit their mistakes and correct them, but they gave that up about a decade ago. Now it would be the largest part of the newspaper if they still had it.
It is a newspaper that wallows in ignorance, about all sorts of big or small issues; but dont waste your time pointing out these things these days as they will NEVER print a retraction or a correction.
I have caught them out three times over the last few years on simple mistales where they were confused, eg mistaking millions with billions, making the article complete nonsense but they do not even reply to you.Posted by arnienelly on 2006 08 02 at 08:43 AM • permalink“The only one(s) who can forgive Lane are those who have been damaged by Lane. In this case, it would be the US Military and all the citizens of that nation.”
As an American and a former Marine, no.
I hope that he finds something to support himself, but I certainly hope that whoever employs him knows just how dishonest he can be.
Stats,
Only the Maker of the Universe can forgive the truly repentant, for only the Master and His Son can know who is truly repentant.
So we shouldn’t bother with forgiveness? Then why did Jesus go on about that whole “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”? If Christ orders us to forgive, how can this not apply to someone who asks for forgiveness?
In any event, you don’t forgive by suing or mouthing meaningless generalities.
A lawsuit is a method society has chosen to redress grievances, so that people don’t seek justice on their own. It refers back to your example of a negligent surgeon. I asked then, and I ask now, what relvance that example has in this case? You suggested that I forgive this unknown surgeon, even though he did nothing to me. Why did you suggest this? In your next statement you seem to support this view, yet you also want to beat up on the guy while he’s apologizing.
It should tell them that my toleration of fools, including illiterate ones, is limited.
Well, that should lead to a stampede of people to our side. Cause most people really want to associate with those who are intolerant of error and unforgiving even after admitting mistakes. Fortunately, the world is full of perfect people.
By the way, since you are so keen on “repentance”, you should at least learn how to spell the word.
It seems as though I got a word wrong by one letter. Thank you for pointing it out.
There’s a difference between a mistake and ignoring the basic rules of your profession in order to score a political point, particularly when the result is the slander of people that you didn’t allow the chance for comment or refutation. It doesn’t mean that all people are perfect, nor does it signify that any mistake is grounds for humiliation. In this case, this guy is paid to discuss issues in a public forum and he latched onto something lurid and heaved it into the spotlight. He, and whatever passes for his superiors, are guilty of substituting their bias for their stated professional standards. The one decent thing this guy did was admit that his bias won out over his professional standards, an admission that his bosses won’t make. If a baker was dumping stuff in a loaf of bread, and was caught at it, I hope that you would take your business elsewhere until you could prove that he had stopped doing it. In this case, it’s obvious that asking his bosses to watch him isn’t an option.
The Age DID NOT accept his resignation.
LONGSTANDING columnist Terry Lane will continue to be published by The Sunday Age despite being duped by a hoax internet video of an American claiming he had killed innocent women and children in Iraq.
The newspaper’s editor, Peter Fray, said yesterday he would review fact-checking procedures after Lane admitted that he had not checked the video of a man calling himself Jesse Macbeth, whose fakery, Fray said, “would have been found within 15 seconds”.
More gratuitous praise of Lane at the link. Appalling.
Posted by bamapachyderm on 2006 08 02 at 12:06 PM • permalink#115 Merlin the spelling challenged one who has no reading comprehension ...as we forgive those who trespass against us”. Let me speak slowly and try your best to follow: Notice the words “who trespass against us” Lane did not trespass against you. He trespassed against the US ARMY and US citizens with his vicious lying. So you are in no position to “forgive” him, whatever that means. Perhaps the US Military will sue him as an act of forgiveness. Duh? (He’s lucky he didn’t print anything adverse, true or false, against Scumboallah, or he’d be forgiven with a sharp neck cut.)
My response, “It should tell them that my toleration of fools, including illiterate ones, is limited” to your idiotic question has produced a revealing response from you.
“Well, that should lead to a stampede of to our side.” I don’t believe it will lead to a stampede of illiterates to your “side”. My experience reading Addamo, LLL, PB2, et al is that they are all already at your side. BTW, The Creator of the Universe has warned that stupidity can be forgiven, but not hypocrisy.
Update: I see the Age has “forgiven” Lane as predicted (see #53 above) and permits him to go on as before under the hilarious assumption that he has “learned his lesson”. I suppose this is what you leftoid lunatics mean by forgiveness. You all seem to lack forgiveness for President Bush having, according to your lying lefties, served his soldiers a plastic turkey. Clearly, you all have turned out to be “turkeys” per American slang.No, Merlin, you did not turn into a leftoid lunatic because you wished to “forgive” Lane’s empty apology. That only exposed you as a fool. You were a leftoid lunatic long before that act. BTW, I never invited you to “talk” to me. Your incapable of enunciating an argument. You’re too busy trying to balance yourself on that high moral plane from which you look down on the rest of us who are too filled with “bile” to accept your nonsense. Hey, you’re not even good at insults.
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So Shady’s in the shitter; such sorrow for socialists, their servile soapbox shafted.
WOOHOO! When can we go all whoop-ass extra-close crew-cut on a few more fibbers?
Phatty’s not got much of a tonsorial challenge, but to slice through the blubber surrounding the girth of his fat head would require the liberation of the flensing display from a whaling museum.
Most of the rest of the commie commentariat have such pointy heads that the task could be performed with a balsa cutter.