Sagepaper

So, Newsweek got it wrong, and many around the world are dead, and the lives of Americans are in greater jeopardy. The story about the desecration of the Qurans was wrong. So, what do we do now that our flag is burning across much of the globe?

At a bare minimum, those two authors should be toast. I had a good friend at The American University in Washington, DC, who was a communications major. AU had a tough policy for would-be journalists. From the date of enrollment, before you knew anything, to the day you graduated, you could not have one single error of fact.

If you had an EOF, you would be permanently expelled with no appeal. (Of course, there would be due process in determining whether an EOF had occurred.) Permanently expelled. If you wanted to continue your education to be a journalist, you would have to do so elsewhere, applying with an expulsion on your transcript. It didn't matter if you misspelled Jon's name as John. One EOF was the end of you.

If we can be that tough on a college freshman, sophomore, junior, or second semester senior, we can be that tough on a professional. In fact, at the level of Newsweek, the editor's job should be on the line, too. Editors are supposed to make sure there are no EOF's in their department.

I still think a symbolic solution is best for a symbolic problem. Perhaps the journalists should make supervised copies of the Quran. I'm inclined to think that is too lenient. I think they should go on a speaking tour throughout the Islamic world, apologizing and setting the record straight. If they find that their lecture audiences throw rocks, too bad. They should have considered the consequences of an EOF.

It is too bad that we cannot make criminal charges against such journalists. Then again, it wouldn't be too good if we could. A free press is precious. Newsweek has deep pockets. Maybe someone should tell the survivors of those killed in the violence that they can try to sue. Certainly, I think DoD, on behalf of the taxpayer, should file a libel suit. This EOF is likely to cause the US some expense.

Perhaps there is something Newsweek can do besides firing some of their staff. They are publishers. Why not make them publish and distribute a painfully large number of Qurans?