Paper Misses a Turnaround in Blame

Many readers excoriated The Times for running on its May 17 front page a chilling photograph of a Colombian woman wearing a “necklace” bomb that later decapitated her. A similar photo ran a day later with an editorial that lambasted those who were thought to be responsible for the heinous act--the country’s Revolutionary Armed Forces, or FARC, rebels.

Readers and even some staff members had argued that the only reason the original story was on Page 1 was as an excuse to use a sensational photo there. I wrote a column in which the executive editor and I defended using the photo on Page 1 because the act it depicted led Colombian President Andres Pastrana to suspend an international hearing that was part of the peace process with the rebels. I also quoted the Editorial Page editor as saying, “It helped make our editorial point about the monstrous terrorism of the guerrillas in Colombia.”

But, as the newspaper would come to learn, the guerrillas apparently were not responsible. Around May 31, police arrested a neighbor of the victim, with whom she reportedly was involved in a dispute, and cleared the rebels of responsibility, allowing the peace process to proceed. The Times did not report this important development for a month, and even then did so only in passing.

Considering the shocking photo used to bring attention to the matter, this was quite a lapse. The newspaper reported on May 19 that Colombian officials were giving “serious weight” to FARC’s denials, but then failed to print or follow up an Associated Press story two days later that the peace process would resume and quoting a Colombian official on the bombing: “It becomes ever more clear that it wasn’t the FARC, and that’s important news.”

Other events--the suspect’s arrest June 2 and his detention in jail June 17--were reported by wire services and noticed June 18 on a Colombia newspaper’s Web site by The Times’ foreign correspondent, at home in El Salvador. She and her editor in Los Angeles agreed that since The Times’ freelance “stringer” in Colombia couldn’t be located, a wire story would best serve readers. But the editor couldn’t find the AP story, so nothing ran.

On June 19, the New York Times ran a four-column commentary strongly criticizing the world’s media in general, and the Los Angeles Times in particular, for not updating developments and clearing FARC. That same day, the Los Angeles Times’ correspondent and her editor decided to include the new information in upcoming Colombia coverage. Thus, this dramatic turn of events--the arrest of the woman’s neighbor and the Colombian government’s exoneration of FARC rebels--finally was mentioned in The Times in a few paragraphs within stories June 20 and June 23 on other events in Colombia.

There is no question that this turnaround was newsworthy because it allowed the peace process to move ahead and, remember, Pastrana’s suspension of the process was the news peg that justified front-page play of the original story and the photo. If Pastrana’s action rated Page 1, then resumption of the peace dialogue because the rebels were cleared also merited more prominent play.

Times’ Foreign Editor Simon Li agrees that “we should have handled the matter in a better way.” He did shed light on the work of foreign correspondents, noting that the Colombia reporter covers seven other countries. She and her 27 fellow foreign correspondents covering 190 nations rely on stringers, wire services and newspaper Web sites to supplement their own reporting. Here in the home office, overworked desk editors and geographic limitations can conspire to cause delays--or omissions--in coverage.

Whatever the explanation, Li agrees that in the case of the Colombia story “reporters and editors alike, we should have all been alert to later developments. This serves as a useful reminder to us to follow up on the stories we report.”

A reminder, and an obligation.