WaPo Buried Haditha Dismissal, Gave One Paragraph to Acquittal

Yesterday, charges against another Marine officer accused of involvement in the Haditha "massacre" were dismissed. Today's Washington Post printed a story, but it was from Los Angeles Times writer Tony Perry, not a Post staffer. What's more, Perry's 10-paragraph story was printed on page A10 below-the-fold. [Check here for Perry's article* at the Times Web site.]

At least that was nine paragraphs longer than the "Around the Nation" brief that the June 5 print edition of the Post ran to relay news of the acquittal of another Haditha Marine:

Marine Acquitted in Iraq Case

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A military jury acquitted Marine intelligence officer 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson of charges that he tried to help cover up the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha.

The Washington Post was not as shy when it came to giving readers front-page coverage of the allegations of a massacre. For example, on May 27, 2006, the Post Foreign Service's Ellen Knickmeyer landed a 1,921-word front-page article on the front page entitled, "In Haditha, Memories of a Massacre; Iraqi Townspeople Describe Slaying of 24 Civilians by Marines in Nov. 19 Incident"

SEE ALSO: Related story by NewsBusters contributor Scott Whitlock, "Networks That Hyped Haditha 'Massacre' Now Ignore Acquittal"

*the article online at the LAT Web site is slightly different and about two paragraphs longer than the version included in the Post print edition.