AP Needs To Be Held Accountable

Charles Johnson of LGF brings up this troubling news. AP, The Associated Press, had to give a retraction on a story that it ran about Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of the UK. Seems that he didn't say what the AP claimed he said.

The AP made up the story and comments out of whole cloth (must have been flea infested). It was a bald-faced lie.

LONDON - In a July 9 story about Prime Minister Tony Blair’s comments on overcoming global terrorism, The Associated Press erroneously reported that he spoke of easing the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Blair did not specifically mention the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his interview with the British Broadcasting Corp.

So, if Blair never mentioned it, why was it inserted into AP stories (that were carried worldwide nearly instantaneously without the knowledge that the statements were never made)? What purpose is served by spreading these lies?

Does a blogger have to sit in on every single interview to make sure that the story is properly transmitted? [ed: not possible or feasible, but it would be fun!] This is the second example of bogus quotes and stories attributed to a major news source in the last week alone! (Instapundit relays info of corrected Op-eds - in which quotes were added, and then removed by editors, Ace has the story on juicing up stories with assisted quotes particularly in anti-Bush pieces that include quotes by soldiers.)

Is it way time to start revoking media credentials from these guys? How can anyone demand accountability from these media outlets, let alone actually get credible changes as a result from our demands.