The New York Post reports:
Four paragraphs about Forbes magazine's search for an investor that appeared in The New York Times yesterday closely resemble passages from a London daily that ran the day before.
Andrew Ross Sorkin, who wrote the bylined Times piece, blamed it on a "stupid error" by Times desk editor.
"An editor added the paragraphs into the story not realizing it was part of my notes," he said.
The story about Forbes' search for an investor had originally appeared on AdAge.com on May 3.
So blame the editor? Having an editor is what journalists say bloggers need, someone to look over their work and review it for relevance and accuracy.
Sorkin insisted the material from the Independent had been incorporated into his notes, then inadvertently into the story. A Times spokesperson last night said a correction would appear in today's paper:
"The Times writer consulted an online report from the Independent on Sunday which he appended to his computer file for reference. Due to an editor's error, four paragraphs of the Independent's report about the history of Steve Forbes' political ambitions were incorporated into the Times article. The Times regrets the error."
