New York Times adjusts article update policy

In response to complaints that information in old New York Times articles that is wrong, incomplete or embarrassing is getting attention in search engine results, The Times has adjusted its policy.

New York Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt reports that under the new policy, if The Times wrote that someone was accused of a crime but never reported the outcome, a note will be put in the archive if there was an acquittal or the charges were dropped, as long as the person has documentary evidence.

Hoyt says:

I think the change is good but not enough. Editors are determined not to remove material from the archive, in effect sanitizing history, and I agree with that. But I think other steps could be taken. For one, the software that pushes material higher in Web searches can be used selectively, so that it doesn’t affect some articles.

Bill Keller, the executive editor, said he found that option “a little creepy. It’s going to exist, but we’re going to hide it?” That, he said, “seems contrary to the vision of journalism.” But I’m not sure what journalistic value is served by highlighting forever the nine-year-old arrest of a 22-year-old for possession of marijuana, as The Times does.

I think The Times hasn’t heard the last of this issue.

Nov 14, 2007 | E-MAIL | SAVE | PRINT | PERMALINK | DISCUSS(0)

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