Another Howell Movement

Little Debbie Howell has high standards for her employer's output: Accuracy is irrelevant, and smear jobs are okay if the editors claim they're not deliberate. And it's all the readers' fault anyway, for misconstruing the meaning of the piece and having unreasonable standards. Stupid, stupid readers. This never would have happened in the old days, when mainstream journalists were worshipped as gods ("This is the new world mainstream journalists live in," Howell opines).

But here's a telling quote:

"This [the wingnut rumors that Obama was a Muslim] was a legitimate subject for journalism explored by one of our most sophisticated political reporters," said Managing Editor Philip Bennett. "We should have been clearer about what it did and didn't say -- in the headline, through the display and in the body of the piece."

Isn't Bennett saying that the article was unclear and shouldn't have been published as written? Why, yes, he is.