Deadspin Accuses Cory Gardner of Inventing His Football Career
Weeks before the 2014 Colorado Senate election, Deadspin suggested Republican candidate Cory Gardner had lied about playing high school football.
The story cast a Republican Senate candidate as dishonest during a close race.
What was reported
Weeks before the 2014 Colorado Senate election, Deadspin suggested Republican candidate Cory Gardner had lied about playing high school football.
What actually happened
Gardner posted a photo of himself in uniform, and Deadspin's key source, the school's longtime stats keeper, told the Denver Post a different story the next day. Editor Tommy Craggs published a lengthy mea culpa explaining how the site got it wrong and apologized.
The proof
Deadspin's own follow-up conceded Gardner did play on the team.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
Deadspin Accuses Cory Gardner of Inventing His Football Career — Retracted. Deadspin's own follow-up conceded Gardner did play on the team. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/deadspin-cory-gardner-football/
Original reporting
- Deadspin: Is a Colorado Senate candidate lying about his football career?https://deadspin.com/is-a-colorado-senate-candidate-lying-about-his-football-1646822517
Corrections, findings & records
- Deadspin: editor's account of how it botched the Gardner storyhttps://deadspin.com/how-deadspin-fucked-up-the-cory-gardner-story-1647195366
- Washington Post (Erik Wemple): Deadspin editor on the Gardner messhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/10/16/deadspin-editor-on-cory-gardner-mess-what-else-can-we-do/
- iMediaEthics: Deadspin admits falsely accusing Gardnerhttps://www.imediaethics.org/deadspin-admits-falsely-accusing-politician-gardner-of-lying-about-football/
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: Deadspin: Is a Colorado Senate candidate lying about his football career?https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://deadspin.com/is-a-colorado-senate-candidate-lying-about-his-football-1646822517