Time would have done a better service to readers by stating clearly that the quote was wholly incorrect. Some readers might read the above and go away thinking the quote could be true.

At this point, there’s no excuse for the quote to appear in the press. Thanks to CAMERA, and now the Toronto Star’s feature about the quote, we know it’s fake. (A spokesman for Yaalon emailed the Star to say, “I can confirm that he has never said the quote ever.”)

Ini’s account of the hoax quote on CAMERA’s website is headlined “Demise of a Hoax Quote.” He thinks there’s a good chance that this past week marks the demise of the quote that refused to die.

“The quote is not going to have the same life it had before,” he told me.

If that turns out to be true, he and his colleagues in the media watchdog business can chalk this one up as a victory. And then move on to their next correction request.

“The most encouraging thing is when we interact with editors at big and small papers and bring up an issue they say ‘thank you’,” he said. “I think a paper that runs corrections and tries to investigate complaints is really doing themselves a favor because it’s their reputation for accuracy that’s at play here.”

There’s a quote that bears repeating.

Correction of the Week

“A sub-headline on page one of last Tuesday’s Herald stated that Attorney General Martha Coakley broomed a conflict-of-interest investigation involving Suffolk University before accepting an honorary law degree from the school. The accompanying story reported that Coakley’s office had obtained concessions from Suffolk while concluding there were no illegalities committed in the case. The Herald regrets any confusion caused by the use of the term “broom.’” – Boston Herald

Craig Silverman is the editor of RegretTheError.com and the author of Regret The Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech. He is also the editorial director of OpenFile.ca and a columnist for the Toronto Star.