MURDOCH 'SOURCE' OF ERRONEOUS NY POST VP STORY, PAPER DENIES
Thu Jul 08 2004 21:07:32 ET
When the NEW YORK POST tore up its front page on Monday night to trumpet an apparent exclusive that Rep. Dick Gephardt would be Sen. John Kerry's vice presidential running mate, the newspaper based its decision on a seemingly unimpeachable source: Rupert Murdoch, the man who controls the company that owns the POST!
Rival NY TIMES set to source the "Murdoch" source to a NY POST employee, who demanded anonymity, saying senior editors had warned that those who discuss the Gephardt gaffe with other news organizations would lose their jobs.
MORE
Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of News Corp., called his tip in to the Post's news desk just after 10 p.m. Monday, between the first and second editions, the employee said. Murdoch spoke directly with Mike Hechtman, an editor on the paper's city desk, the employee said, though the person did not know where Murdoch was or how he learned of Kerry's supposed choice.
The paper's editor denies the source was Murdoch.
Murdoch, asked by CNBC about the Gephardt article in a brief interview on Tuesday from Sun Valley, Idaho, seemed to point to others.
"Everybody made a mistake and they are embarrassed and they have apologized for it and it happens even on NBC sometimes," he said.
Developing..
The Drudge Report does not own, operate or maintain DrudgeReportArchives.com and is not responsible for it in any way.