The Propaganda FilesNYT editorial ties Palin's map to the Giffords shooting
After the shooting at the GOP congressional baseball practice, the Times editorial 'America's Lethal Politics' said a clear link existed between political incitement, including a Sarah Palin PAC map, and the 2011 shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords.
The editorial blamed Republican rhetoric for political violence on the day a gunman targeted Republican lawmakers.
What was reported
After the shooting at the GOP congressional baseball practice, the Times editorial 'America's Lethal Politics' said a clear link existed between political incitement, including a Sarah Palin PAC map, and the 2011 shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords.
What actually happened
No link between the map and the Giffords shooter had ever been established. The Times corrected the editorial the next day, saying it had wrongly linked political incitement to the Giffords attack, and also corrected its claim that the map put Democratic lawmakers in crosshairs when it showed districts. Palin sued; editorial page editor James Bennet later testified that the error was his. Juries found the Times not liable under the actual-malice standard, but the paper never defended the original wording.
The proof
The Times' own correction of June 15, 2017, and PolitiFact's finding of no evidence that Palin's PAC incited the shooter.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
NYT editorial ties Palin's map to the Giffords shooting — Retracted. The Times' own correction of June 15, 2017, and PolitiFact's finding of no evidence that Palin's PAC incited the shooter. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/nyt-palin-giffords-editorial/
Original reporting
- PolitiFact: No evidence Sarah Palin's PAC incited shooting (quotes the editorial; original NYT page not reachable)https://politifact.com/factchecks/2017/jun/15/new-york-times-editorial-board/no-evidence-sarah-palins-pac-incited-shooting-rep/
- Mediaite: Sarah Palin responds to NYT editorialhttps://www.mediaite.com/online/sarah-palin-responds-to-sickening-nyt-editorial-wrongly-linking-her-to-giffords-shooting
Corrections, findings & records
- CNN Money: New York Times corrects editorial linking Palin to Giffords shootinghttps://money.cnn.com/2017/06/15/media/new-york-times-editorial-palin-giffords-correction/index.html
- Mediaite: NYT posts editor's note on Giffords claimhttps://www.mediaite.com/online/nyt-posts-editors-note-retracting-claim-about-gop-political-incitement-in-giffords-shooting/
- Yahoo News: James Bennet says the Palin error was 'my fault'https://sg.news.yahoo.com/former-york-times-editor-james-001528695.html
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: PolitiFact: No evidence Sarah Palin's PAC incited shooting (quotes the editorial; original NYT page not reachable)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://politifact.com/factchecks/2017/jun/15/new-york-times-editorial-board/no-evidence-sarah-palins-pac-incited-shooting-rep/
- Archived copy: Mediaite: Sarah Palin responds to NYT editorialhttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.mediaite.com/online/sarah-palin-responds-to-sickening-nyt-editorial-wrongly-linking-her-to-giffords-shooting