'USA Today' Editor Paulson Defends Paper's Reporting on Bush Military Docs

[UpInArms]

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000629546

NEW YORK USA Today Editor Ken Paulson defended his paper's use of the now-disputed documents related to President George W. Bush's military service, saying the paper "accurately reported" the story.

"The only difference between USA Today and every other newspaper is that we had the documents to look at," said Paulson. "Like every American newspaper, we are trying to determine the authenticity of the documents."

When asked if USA Today erred in any way in its reporting, Paulson was adamant in his defense. "When the White House released the documents Wednesday night, no one including the White House believed they were anything but genuine government records," Paulson said. "When questions were raised later about the authenticity of the documents, USA Today and other responsible news organizations reported the allegations and CBS' response to those claims. That is what we will continue to do."

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Paulson said the fact that the White House had released some of the memos and "60 Minutes" had reported them as fact made it easier to use them in a story. "We had a higher confidence level then and we only decided to go to press after '60 Minutes' and the White House issued the documents," he said. "We ran a story on Thursday about '60 Minutes' reporting on the documents, and we used the documents to amplify our story."

On Monday, USA Today published one of the more thorough summaries of the dispute thus far, with a point-by-point analysis of the allegations -- including conflicting quotes by experts and interviewees, some of whom have shifted their views just in the space of a few days.

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Interesting that the mudia that so skewered Clinton is so rigorous in its defense of the thief-in-chief. Wow! Look at that "libral" media go!