The New York Times' public editor says the paper's Clinton-DOJ story was a 'mess'

On Friday morning, The New York Times published a story alleging that the Department of Justice was pursuing a "criminal inquiry" into Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email account during her tenure as secretary of state. But as the story that "seemed like a blockbuster" spread over the internet, some crucial inaccuracies emerged: For one, Clinton was not the subject of the investigation — it was a more general investigation into whether government information in her personal emails was mishandled — and then the Times backed off the "criminal" aspect of the inquiry altogether, downgrading it to a "security referral."

"It was, to put it mildly, a mess," writes The New York Times' Public Editor Margaret Sullivan. Though The New York Times proceeded to issue not one, but two corrections, and the story underwent numerous modifications, "[y]ou can't put stories like this back in the bottle — they ripple through the entire news system," Sullivan says.

The Times attributed the mistaken reporting to sources with incorrect information, and Sullivan stands by the paper's admission, writing that, while unfortunate, it is "an explanation not an excuse."

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Her advice for the future: simply wait.

Read Sullivan's full critique here.