Honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is about Smith’s error. The usual suspects are trotting this example out to bash bloggers. But Smith updated his original post with the Edwards campaign’s pushback, and then posted an explanation just as prominent as the original post. This is what bloggers do when they screw up; it’s a transparent and instantaneous process. Remember the New York Post cover announcing the Gephardt was Kerry’s running mate? The Post didn’t have the luxury of amending the cover of every paper in circulation; bloggers do. I suppose the outlets that transmitted the scoop might take some blame, but CNN was already reporting on the pushback from the Edwards camp by the time I heard about it on TV.
