What is it the Mainstream Media says about bloggers — they’re not journalists, they’re careless with the facts? They don’t live up to journalism’s high ethical standards? Hmmm. An interesting case study sheds some light on MSM posturing.
Read what Washington Post reporter Sandhya Somashekhar wrote Oct. 10:
A state Senate candidate in Virginia has been improperly receiving a tax break on a home she owns in Northwest Washington, according to D.C. land records and interviews with city officials.
Since 2005, city records show Jill Holtzman Vogel (R) and her husband have received a homestead deduction on the property taxes they pay on a condominium they own near Washington Circle. To get the $60,000 annual deduction, the owner must declare the home as their primary residence.
The Post ran the story even though Vogel and her husband denied having any knowledge of the tax break and openly acknowledged that they did not live in the District. Somashekhar added an extra dig, describing Vogel as “an attorney who specializes in ‘ethics, campaign finance and tax exempt organizations,’ according to the Warrenton firm’s Web site.”
Here’s the follow up story posted the next day:
D.C. tax officials said yesterday that it was their fault that a state Senate candidate from Virginia got an improper tax break on her Washington Circle condominium.
The candidate, Jill Holtzman Vogel (R), and her husband never applied for the city’s homestead deduction, said Natalie Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Office of Tax and Revenue.
Note how the article blames the D.C. officials for the error, taking no responsibility for running the story before checking out all the facts.
(Hat tip to Joe West.)