Big Journalism on Wednesday reported that the New York Times finally conceded to correcting their article on Brandon Darby’s involvement with an FBI case of domestic terrorism.
While NPR fights for public funding on the basis of its news reporting, Minnesota Public Radio published a factually incorrect statement about the Darby case in the context of a documentary, and needs to correct it:
Darby, by the way, is suing the New York Times for defamation because of this story which revealed him as the informant. He objects to the Times’ claim that he encouraged the two men to make Molotov cocktails.
MPR apparently missed that the NYT retracted its earlier claim that Darby “encouraged” the two men in question to make Molotov cocktails as it was false. Our earlier reporting:
We noted that according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, the assertion Darby “encouraged” the plot was patently false. On February 27th, we brought in Matthew Vadum, an expert on the circumstances surrounding the plot, to provide broader context to the Times’s smear.
Darby isn’t suing the NYT because they “revealed him as an informant.” He’s suing the NYT because they published falsehoods about his involvement with the attempted domestic terrorist attack.
We ask that Bob Collins with MPR correct his reporting. We will keep you updated.