AP Mistake: Novak 'Announced Late Last Month He Has a Brain'

Noel Sheppard
August 4th, 2008 8:04 PM
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In its haste to publish the news about columnist Robert Novak's retirement (reported earlier by my colleague Matt Sheffield), the Associated Press left out an important word that might have led readers to believe that up until recently, the longtime journalist was emulating Ray Bolger in "The Wizard of Oz."

The following was published by AP Online at 2:09 ET (photo right courtesy Yahoo):

Novak has been a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times for decades. He announced late last month he has a brain.

DCist blog caught the following screen-cap of what the New York Times posted seconds after the AP released it (h/t NBer blogonator):

Someone at AP caught the error within minutes, for at 2:13, a new version of the same article was published with the following more accurate sentence: "He announced late last month he has a brain tumor."

Was this a Freudian slip, or is someone at AP still emulating Ray Bolger?

Hmmm.

My best wishes go out to Bob and his family. I have nothing but the highest esteem for this fine gentleman. Godspeed, Bob.