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Returning veteran has few marketable skills
Editor’s Note: A commentary by Leo Webb, ”Returning veteran has few marketable skills,” prompted questions from listeners about Webb’s account of his service as an Army sniper in Iraq. A subsequent investigation found that the Army has no record of Webb. Webb also said he pitched for a Chicago Cubs minor-league team. Inquiries to the Cubs and to Minor League Baseball found no record of Webb. Marketplace has an obligation to provide accurate information. That was not met in this commentary. It has been retracted and the text and audio have been removed from the web site.
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While I appreciate that Marketplace apologized, I'm surprised that this story ever passed the "sniff" test. I actually heard the apology first, so when I accidentally heard the original commentary, I knew it was false. But I doubt I would have believed it in the first place--seems like Journalism 101 to check that this guy is the least bit credible. Embarrassing for my favorite radio program!
Thank you, Marketplace, not only for checking the story, but also for apologizing to listeners. How very rare it is in this day for that to happen! I've listened to your program for years and appreciate the honesty that you all demonstrate.
As a mother of 2 soldiers, I'm concerned about what they will do when they get out. One is out & going to college, the other is not college suited. The GI Bill has been beefed up enough to help almost everyone coming out, but there are always going to be people who fall through the cracks.
Ya know, when I heard this broadcast I had two immediate thoughts: (1) wow, how sad; and (2) wow, this isn't believable. I then concluded he had scammed MarketPlace, and I promptly forgot about it...until today's mea culpa. Shame on MarketPlace!
I would be very interested to know the process by which Mr. Webb's commentary was accepted and what Marketplace will change in its vetting process to prevent a repeat of this kind of regrettable error. Yes, everyone makes mistakes, but this one was wholly preventable.
JLHSmurf, doesn't NPR broadcast poscasts from Marketplace, and wasn't the essay at issue here one of those broadcast on NPR? And if not, can you explain why the NPR website promotes it and has links to the Marketplace content? http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=7495769
Marketplace is produce and distributed by American Public Media. Look at this website. They mention it at the beginning and end of their broadcasts and have said it whenever people come asking about some scandal at NPR.
The point is, if you check any website, any newspaper, or any televised news program, you'll see at least one correction on a daily basis. Errors occur. They got duped. An apology was made. One person could have dropped the ball. It happens all of the time. It is naive for us to believe that an organization that produces something like 312 shows a year (including Marketplace Money) for 23 years is not going to have a slip up.
While it is encouraging that you have admitted your error and removed it, it is quite sad that you were so eager to be duped that you made no effort to check anything.
My memory of journalism school is that when your mother tells you she loves you, you are supposed to look for two independent sources to confirm it. Yet you folks ran this, which seemingly fits a political agenda, without anything resembling fact checking.
Sad. A very sad commentary on NPR.
What is sadder still is that it is not at all surprising.
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