Daily Caller Cites 24-Year-Old Fake Princeton Newspaper to Attack the NYT's Benghazi Reporter

[kpete]

How did this sourcing make it into the original story? Tim Cavanaugh, the Daily Caller's executive editor, explains:

Kirkpatrick was busted for lewdness in 1989, as reported in straight news stories in Town Topics, the Trentonian and the Princeton student papers. The Princeton student paper also wrote a series of spoofs mocking that, which unfortunately Charles fell for 24 years later. I neglected to examine the spoof stories prior to publication. When I did so (on Saturday])they were clearly fabrications. Kirkpatrick has confirmed the accuracy of the story in its corrected form.

Indeed, the first embarrassing fact in the story was true. As was the second: Kirkpatrick did participate in an annual Princeton tradition of running nude through campus when the first snow of the year fell. It was an all-genders stunt that wouldn't be banned for another decade. Silly, maybe, but socially accepted at the time.

So ... what do college stunts during the George H.W. Bush administration says about Kirkpatrick's journalism now? Johnson suggests that it proves Kirkpatrick was a "prominent campus progressive and activist," and only later struck a pose as a moderate. And Johnson's standard for "proof" is quite high, if we're to read his correction on the "Playgirl" stuff:

An earlier version of this article reported claims made in a Princeton student newspaper article that appears to have been fabricated. Kirkpatrick denies the reporting from the Daily Princetonian and The Daily Caller has not been able to confirm it independently.

"Appears"? "Not able to confirm?" It was a parody newspaper that ran a story about Elvis appearing on campus.




The Rest:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2014/01/06/daily_caller_cites_24_year_old_fake_princeton_newspaper_to_attack_the_nyt.html