TNR stepped in it

The explosion of commentary in the wake of Franklin Foer's final take on the Scott Thomas Beauchamp saga has begun.

I've only read through the second page of Foer's epic discourse, but I was brought up short by TNR's admission that they let Elspeth Reeve fact-check Scott Beauchamp's third published piece--that's after she was also known (albeit not widely) as Mrs. Scott Beauchamp. As I noted here, there's no way TNR should have ever let that happen.

But there was one avoidable problem with our Beauchamp fact-check. His wife, Reeve, was assigned a large role in checking his third piece. While we believe she acted with good faith and integrity--not just in this instance, but throughout this whole ordeal--there was a clear conflict of interest. At the time, our logic--in hindsight, obviously flawed--was that corresponding with a soldier in Iraq is logistically difficult and Reeve was already routinely speaking with him. It was a mistake--and we've imposed new rules to prevent future fact-checking conflicts of interest.
(TNR)

Foer writes that Reeve performed her fact-checking in good faith and I trust that is true at this point, pending the specific exposure of fact-checking errors. There is a problem with the defense of Reeve, however. She should have known she shouldn't be fact-checking Beauchamp's stories. Off with her head? Of course not. Both Reeve and Beauchamp are redeemable figures.

Simply put, however, Reeve does emerge with a dinged reputation. She published a story using her school chums (Beauchamp was one of them) as sources without revealing their relationship, and fact-checked hubby's published work. While TNR should not have allowed it in the first place, she should have protested regardless.

More when I get time.

*****