Much ado…
On March 21, The Orange County Register published a blog post, based on the sworn affidavit of a process server, alleging that Julio Perez, a California state Assembly candidate, did not live where he said, or within the district he was running to represent.
Reporter Brian Joseph packed his story with details and links to testimony. But the Register didn’t have a reporter make the 2.4-mile trip to the home in question (Joseph is based in Sacramento, so couldn’t have done it himself). Had editors bothered, they would have found—as a reporter for the nonprofit Voice of OC did—plenty of evidence that it was indeed Perez’s place: bills, neighbors, the candidate himself.
It took the Register two days to “update” its story, which it did in petulant fashion by (finally) dispatching a reporter to the residence to grill the candidate about which brand of toothpaste was in the bathroom and what drinks were in the fridge. Perez nailed it: Colgate and Cherry Coke Zero. (Joseph insists the story isn’t over, but even if that’s true, his paper blew round one.)
Google it, man!
For the record, 14-year-old V. A. Shiva Ayyadurai did not invent e-mail. Seems obvious, but it took The Washington Post a mind-boggling half a month to untangle the truth behind a February 17 story by Post Innovations editor Emi Kolawole headlined: “Inventor of E-mail Honored by Smithsonian.”
Not exactly. Ayyadurai copyrighted an electronic-messaging system called “Email,” but he did so years after real “e-mail” was invented; and Ayyadurai was “honored by the Smithsonian” only in that the institution accepted his donation of email-related artifacts.
Compounding the gaffe was the glibness of Post ombudsman Patrick Pexton’s initial response to reader complaints. He found more fault with the outraged commenters than with the flawed reporting, which he defended as the heroic effort of an overworked journalist: “Could you, as Ms. Kolawole did, do all this in one day?” he wrote. “Write a story, edit seven videos, and write up a transcript of her Q&A session with Ayyadurai?”
A week later, Pexton published a more level-headed response, in which he admitted that his original post was “dismissive, snarky and wrongheaded.” Maybe he was overworked, too.
No surprise. The OC Register is a libertarian rag. Julio Perez is a Democrat who takes campaign contributions from unions.
#1 Posted by Ron R., CJR on Fri 25 May 2012 at 03:42 PM
Editors,
The OC Register's story-correction broke more than two months ago. Why is it suddenly newsworthy to CJR? Is it the only example of a non-profit outlet doing a better job (playing clean-up?) these past few months?
Ron R.,
Is the Register really a "libertarian rag"? Well, not quite. From a cursory glance at its editorials and opinion columns, it appears to be conservative-heavy with a libertarian influence here and there. Still, that would leave the Register hopelessly outnumbered by leftist and progressive outlets in the grand sum of U.S. news-media. But more importantly, by impugning the Register's motives based on your belief that the Register is solely politically motivated to ruin some Democrat, you've made no substantial, incriminating argument at all. Are you accusing the process server and the reporter of conspiracy against Julio Perez? If so, then you should present your own unassailable, incriminating facts. Until then, the worst we can honestly discern at this point is that the OC Register's reporter failed to do his due diligence.
#2 Posted by Dan A., CJR on Fri 25 May 2012 at 07:51 PM
ts time that journalists really did journalism. Emi Kolawale did her job. YES, a 14-year-old did invent email in Newark, NJ. Pexton reviewed no primary sources, had no facts, never spoke to Ayyadurai. At best he was spineless, and broke under pressure from Industry insiders, who did not create email, and represent BBN, who have built a multi-billion dollar brand on this false hood. Internet pioneer, MA Padlipsky exposed BBN and Tomlinson as NOT the inventors of email Read the facts on www.inventorofemail.com --- the work that journalists SHOULD have done. The journalistic community who followed rags on the Internet like lemmings, owes a huge apology to Dr. Ayyadurai (immediately).
#3 Posted by Isabel Dominguez, CJR on Sun 27 May 2012 at 02:31 PM
In my earlier post, the fourth sentence had links in it. I am reposting so the readers can have access to these invaluable primary references --- again the references that we as journalists should have done.
The fourth sentence should read as follows:
“Internet pioneer http://www.inventorofemail.com/claims_about_email.asp" target=_blank> MA Padlipsky exposed BBN and Tomlinson as NOT the inventors of email Read the facts on http://www.inventorofemail.com" target=_blank> www.inventorofemail.com --- the work that journalists SHOULD have done.”
#4 Posted by Isabel Domingues, CJR on Mon 28 May 2012 at 01:18 PM
In my previous post, I mentioned the site http://www.inventorofemail.com, which contains an excellent reference from which all journalists can learn. (I'm hoping the html link shows up this time: All of us have been caught up in the Gizomodo wave (of no journalism), and have thought that the louder voice must be right. We all owe an apology to Emi Kolawole and Dr. V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai --- the facts speak for themselves. The Darts should be on all of us journalists!
Isabel
#5 Posted by Isabel Domingues, CJR on Mon 28 May 2012 at 09:16 PM
As a gay man, who has seen how misconceptions get passed in the media, after reviewing Isabel's recommendation,
I went to http://www.inventorofemail.com.
I must say, that your Dart is totally misplaced. The Dart should be pinned on Journalism itself, which has followed Gizmodo like a lemming. Gizmodo as my reporter friend at the Globe said, has become bigger than the New York Times, and they can say whatever they want, and everyone just follows.
Look at the facts for God's sake.
#6 Posted by Bill Roberts, CJR on Tue 29 May 2012 at 11:37 AM
For some reason this site has problems with a period, so here is the link without the period: http://www.inventorofemail.com
#7 Posted by Bill Roberts, CJR on Tue 29 May 2012 at 12:41 PM
As an NYU grad and documentary film maker, I am deeply concerned by CJR's DART. You guys got it wrong! Journalists all got on the bandwagon on GIZMODO and Sam Biddle, a "journalist" who could not even get the story of an Internet dog "Boo" right, and we expect this individual, as someone else wrote, to get the story of email right?!
We live in a world, where journalists, even those attending CJR, no longer do journalism but can get swept in Sensationalism and think that just because you GOOGLE it or look it up on Wikipedia, it is right.
The reality is that the website referred by Mr. Roberts, http://www.inventorofemail.com is infact real journalism.
Shame on you CJR. Are you going to be making Sam Biddle part of your Board soon?
-JR
#8 Posted by Honest Alastair, CJR on Sat 2 Jun 2012 at 08:59 PM
Sorry, CJR Darts and Laurels has it right on email. Comments here won't rewrite the actual history of email, which is much deeper and more interesting than the original, sadly fictive, story in the Washington Post. That story, and the WaPo ombudsman's mishandling of having the poor reporting called to their attention, richly deserve the dart CJR places so accurately, whose first sentence is plain and accurate. Live with it.
#9 Posted by PK from SJ, CJR on Sat 9 Jun 2012 at 05:10 PM
Shiva Ayyadurai is a fraud who most certainly did not invent email, and the Web site posted above by Shiva or one of his promoters is an absurd distortion of history. Even the the most basic literature search (including the RFCs linked on the Wikipedia page) will document that email, as well as the essential header fields) were in wide use before Shiva's teen project. Lying about history doen't change it. I'm glad the Washington Post finally owned up to this.
#10 Posted by Prof. James P.G. Sterbenz, CJR on Sat 9 Jun 2012 at 05:30 PM
Isabel D, whoever she may actually be, is full of it, and no amount of further bogospeak about Shiva A and his vanity websites can help his fraudulence. It's all too easy to check the true history and facts in the matter, not the madeup promo factoids of Shiva and his heated plants and shills.
And the idea that BBN gets anything financially from defending its and others' IP and honest intellectual history is lol.
#11 Posted by David Moran, CJR on Sat 9 Jun 2012 at 05:58 PM
Mr. Sterbenz and Mr. Moran are clearly stooges for BBN. In fact, Sterbenz, was a Senior Network Scientist and Research Group Manager at BBN Technologies, and Mr. Moran has been blogging on behalf of BBN all over the Internet. These gentleman think that by merely restating the BIG LIE that BBN invented email and that Shiva is a "fraud" which is libelous, they can get away with it.
WRONG. Sterbenz and Moran are the liars, and the plants and shills of BBN --- the pot calling the kettle black, and they think they can sucker the public --- wake up!
-AD
#12 Posted by Alice Darlin, CJR on Tue 12 Jun 2012 at 05:34 AM
Yes, the shills here are Sterbenz and Moran. Sterbenz and Moran believe that they can create history, sit on it, and no one will figure it out. Sterbenz --- get your history straight, "email" the term did not exist prior to 1978. Email is the electronic interoffice, inter-organizational mail system, the system that you guys at BBN did not invent ---- sorry, just because YOU keep repeating the big lie, doesn't make it so.
I was initially against Ayyadurai, but the facts speak for themselves. Yes, BBN has a lot to gain --- millions of military contracts pretending they are the "inventors of email". Sterbenz and Moran --- again you are the shills.
Just go to their website!
#13 Posted by Bill Roberts, CJR on Tue 12 Jun 2012 at 07:37 AM
Yes, I've seen Moran (a BBN flunky) desperately hitting other blogs defending BBN as they continue to be exposed from http://www.inventorofemail.com .
Thanks for the heads up on Sterbenz (how low can you get --- but what do you expect of an academic sitting in Kansas!). BBN shills they are all right. Darts on both of them.
#14 Posted by Thomas Masters, CJR on Tue 12 Jun 2012 at 12:46 PM
The strange uniformity of the shills for the fraud, the paranoid conspiracy theory about BBN... There's a story here, but it's not about electronic mail: it's about a guy with an inflated ego who can manage to manipulate ignorant journalists and others. When the dust clears, the story of egotism and fraud is going to be the story people remember, and no amount of conspiracy-theory shrieking will change it. The deep true history -- not the myth involving a single teenager -- is easily acessible, and that's where credulous journalists and others fall down on the job. (And FYI, I used a cross-user messaging system on the SDS930 at Cal in 1966. Anything to say on that?) In the meantime we await eagerly to hear how the guy invented the wheel, and water.
#15 Posted by PK from SJ, CJR on Tue 19 Jun 2012 at 11:49 AM