NYT runs front-page, article-length correction

CURRENT EVENTS

On Nov. 8, 2008, Joy and Jim Pruett, owners of Jim Pruett's Guns and Ammo, received some big-time free publicity. It wasn't with their core customer audience, but few businesses will turn down an A-20 photo and second graf quote in the New York Times. I doubt, however, that they were pleased to find a photo from that same shoot--or at least the same photographer--spread across the flap on the front page this week, above a caption all but accusing them of fueling the drug trade in Mexico:

"Jim Pruett's Guns and Ammo, one of 1,500 licensed gun dealers in the Houston area, easily accessible to Mexico."

But more interesting than the plight of the Pruett's is the New York Times' belated realization that drug lords and gun runners may have fueled the post-election sales spike, not Americans who 'cling to guns' in hard times. And not only did the first article neglect to mention Mexico, it also acknowledges that the statistics may be utterly misleading. The main premise of the story--besides anecdotal evidence--are some peaking October sales, yet sales also spiked in May 2008. But that doesn't stop the Wall Street Journal from weighing in way late on the story, again with no mention of Mexico.