Anatomy of an error

New York

New York Post owner Rupert Murdoch was the source of the newspaper’s embarrassing front-page “exclusive” that John Kerry had picked Dick Gephardt as his running mate, The New York Times reported this week. The Post proclaimed Gephardt as “Kerry’s Choice” the very morning that Kerry announced he had picked Sen. John Edwards. An anonymous Post employee said that Murdoch, a media tycoon with strong ties to the Republican Party, had passed his tip to an editor, who tore up the original front page and rewrote it. The employee said editors threatened to fire anyone who revealed Murdoch’s role in the gaffe. A Post spokesman denied Murdoch was the source of the story.

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