Newsweek Retraction

Newsweek has officially retracted its May 9 story [discussed here] on an alleged incident of desecration of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay. Alan at The Yellow Line has more on this, as well as an excellent look at how the partisan blogs have treated this issue. Joe at The Moderate Voice also has a good roundup of reaction to the story and the retraction.

"Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Koran abuse at Guantánamo Bay," said Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker in a statement.

The question now shifts to, will this retraction be enough to quell the anger of Muslims around the world? Or has the damage already been done? The important thing to remember is that this is just one in a series of incidents, from Abu Ghraib to other accounts of abuse at detention centers, that have blackened the record of the American military - the media ought to focus on those that can be proven, not racing to reveal new outrages without guaranteeing the accuracy of their reports.

Of course another large issue comes into play as well. As the New York Times writes in its story on the retraction,

"Newsweek's apology - and now retraction - comes as the use of anonymous sources by news organizations around the country is under heightened scrutiny. Reader surveys have said that the use of unnamed officials is one of the biggest reasons their trust in the news media has eroded, and several news organizations, including the New York Times, have been tightening the rules on the use of officials and others who will not provide information unless their identities are masked."

It's not hard to assume that this black eye for Newsweek will drive reader opinions of stories that cite "unnamed officials" even lower.