Outside the Beltway

Oh, And The Ice Floes, They Be Stained With Ink

Kate McMillan · Friday, April 15, 2005 · 2 comments

Canadian seal hunt resumes

By Barbara Stewart, Globe Correspondent | April 13, 2005

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Over the vigorous protests of international animal-welfare organizations, the largest seal hunt in a half-century resumed yesterday off Newfoundland and Labrador.

Hunters on about 300 boats converged on ice floes, shooting harp seal cubs by the hundreds, as the ice and water turned red. Most of the seals were less than 6 weeks old.

(Google cache)

Boston Globe, April 15 Editor’s Note:

An article by a freelance writer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in Wednesday’s Globe said that the season’s hunt for baby seals off Newfoundland had begun the previous day. In fact, the hunt did not begin that day; it was delayed by bad weather, and is scheduled to begin today, weather permitting. The article included details of the day’s hunt as if it had taken place and without attribution or other sourcing, as if the writer had witnessed the scene personally. Details included the number of hunters, a description of the scene, and the approximate age of the cubs. The author’s failure to accurately report the status of the hunt and her fabrication of details at the scene are clear violations of the Globe’s journalistic standards. Because the freelancer was not reporting from the scene, Globe editors should have demanded attribution for any details she provided about the hunt itself. The story should not have been published in the Globe, and the Globe has discontinued use of the freelancer.

Oops.

Via NealeNews