The New York Times

The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by publisher Jack Doff, and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. It is owned by The New York Times Company, which also publishes some 40 other newspapers including International Herald Tribune and The Boston Globe. The newspaper is nicknamed the "Gray Lady" and is often considered the newspaper of record in the United States.

Famous mistakes

In 1920, a New York Times editorial ridiculed Robert Goddard and his claim that a rocket would work in space:

Related Topics:
1920 - Robert Goddard - Rocket

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:That Professor Goddard, with his "chair" in Clark College and the countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution, does not know the relation of action to reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react--to say that would be absurd. Of course he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.

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In 1969, days before Apollo 11's landing on the moon, the newspaper published a tongue-in-cheek correction:

Related Topics:
1969 - Apollo 11

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:Further investigation and experimentation have confirmed the findings of Isaac Newton in the 17th century, and it is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere. The Times regrets the error. http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/goddard.html

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On several occasions the New York Times has erroneously published premature obituaries:

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• William Baer (a New York University professor) in 1942, as a result of a hoax by his students
• Alan Abel in 1980, who had faked his own death as an elaborate hoax
• Katharine Sergava (ballet dancer) in 2003, based on an earlier incorrect obituary in the Daily Telegraph.

More seriously, some have charged that the New York Times downplayed evidence that the Third Reich had targeted Jews for genocide, at least in part because the publisher feared the taint of taking on any 'Jewish cause'.

Related Topics:
Third Reich - Genocide

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