Tracking Alan Feuer, one correction at a time
Ah, our old friend and fabulator Alan Feuer is back in the news — specifically, the corrections section. It turns out that the NYT has been using Metro reporter Feuer’s recently-published book “Over There” about his tour of duty in Iraq to fact-check his work from back in 2003. You may recall that in his book Feuer admits to fudging facts, guessing at names, and reporting on a wing and a prayer from kind of an important place. An Editor’s Note from today’s corrections page:
An article on April 14, 2003, about the opulent homes of Sadeh Street in Baghdad, where several of Saddam Hussein’s aides and relatives had lived before the American-led invasion, misspelled the surname of Mr. Hussein’s private secretary, who owned a three-story hacienda on the street. He is Abid Hamid Hamoud, not Abid Hamid Mahmoud.The Times recently asked its Baghdad bureau staff to recheck the article after the writer, Alan Feuer, published a book, “Over There: From the Bronx to Baghdad, Two Months in the Life of a Reluctant Reporter,” based on his experience covering Iraq. In one passage, Mr. Feuer recalled that “it was impossible to tell” what he had written in his notebook concerning some specifics in the Sadeh Street article. But the recent check confirmed an age and another name spelling cast into doubt by the book.
Corrections: For The Record [NYT]
An Elegant Baghdad Street Becomes a Museum of Riches and Dreams [NYT]
Related in FishbowNY:
UPDATE: Gee whiz, Feuer, you didn’t think your book was going to piss people off? Apparently the NYT is not happy. [Lowdown]
UPDATE: Apparently the Times isn’t checking all his articles, just this one, writes Tom Scocca on the new NYO media blog. He should know, he broke the Feuer story in the first place. And if the NYO had archives, I’d link to it. Next new innovation? [Media Mob]
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