NY Times Admits Mis-identifying Hooded Detainee
The story so far: On March 11, the New York Times identified Ali Shalal Qaissi as the hooded detainee in this photograph and wrote a long article on how Qaissi became a prison rights' activist after his release from Abu Ghraib. (synopsis here.) Salon then challenged the identification.
Today the New York Timess issued a correction: Salon was right, it was wrong.
The Times did not adequately research Mr. Qaissi's insistence that he was the man in the photograph. Mr. Qaissi's account had already been broadcast and printed by other outlets, including PBS and Vanity Fair, without challenge. Lawyers for former prisoners at Abu Ghraib vouched for him. Human rights workers seemed to support his account. The Pentagon, asked for verification, declined to confirm or deny it.
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