I have included all of my correspondence with the Public Editor office below. (The only text trimmed from the emails were the lines pre-pended with ">" which quoted text that was being replied to.) But if you want you can skip straight to the good stuff, which begins after the Public Editor contacted the Microsoft Alumni group and got confirmation that I quit voluntarily and wasn't fired -- and still refused to correct the article saying I had been sacked.
Some of the e-mails refer to the URL of the article as being
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/biztech/articles/16tsc-soft.html
but it has since been moved to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/16/technology/16tsc-soft.html
I began by writing to the public editor's email address:
and then again when I didn't hear back from them:Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 19:59:42 -0800 To: public@nytimes.com From: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> Subject: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 Dear Ombudsman, I got this email address from John Schwartz at the New York Times, when I asked where I should write to request a correction. I'm trying to get an online piece corrected that was written about four yeras ago. In May 2000, Michael Brick wrote an article for TheStreet.com, picked up by NYTimes.com, about an Internet Explorer cookie hole that I found: http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/biztech/articles/16tsc-soft.html The article claims at the end that I was fired from Microsoft, when in fact I quit. The author claims he got that impression from talking to me, and refused to change it after the article was published. I tried following up with other people I knew at NYTimes.com but kept hitting dead ends, so eventually I gave up. Anyway, recently it *almost* cost me a job when someone looked up my name and found the article claiming I'd been fired from Microsoft, so I wanted to make a renewed attempt to get the article corrected. -Bennett
which elicited this response:Date: Sat, 03 Apr 2004 03:46:50 -0800 To: public@nytimes.com From: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> Subject: Re: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 Is this a monitored email address? I sent the email below six weeks ago and never received a response. -Bennett
So I emailed them again three weeks later:Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 14:19:49 -0400 To: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: Re: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 Dear Mr. Haselton, Yes, this is most certainly a monitored e-mail address account. I send your concern to the senior editor in charge of corrections, Bill Borders who informed me that the article you mention never actually appeared in the paper but only on NYTimes.com. The matter has thus been relayed to Len Apcar, the editor of NYTimes.com who unfortunately will be away through April 14th. I have e-mailed Mr. Apcar about your concern and hope to have an answer for you toward the end of that week. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:59:02 -0700 To: Public <public@nytimes.com> From: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> Subject: Re: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 Hi, Thanks for letting me know about the status. I assume Mr. Apcar is back now -- have you heard anything back from him? -Bennett
After another three weeks I got this response:Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 20:45:12 -0400 To: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: Re: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 Dear Mr. Haselton, I'm checking in with Mr. Apcar and hope to have a response next week. Sorry for the delayed response. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor The New York Times Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor The New York Times (212)556-7652 Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor The New York Times (212)556-7652
Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 15:00:01 -0400 To: bennett@peacefire.org From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 Dear Mr. Haselton, Thank you for your patience. I include a response from Mr. Apcar regarding your concern: I reached Michael Brick, the staff writer on the story several years ago involving Mr. Haselton. Michael says this has come up before and that Michael is fully confident of the accuracy of the story. In his view he stands by the characterization of Mr. Haselton's departure from Microsoft and there is absolutely nothing to correct. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor
From: "Bennett Haselton" <bhas@speakeasy.net> To: "Public" <public@nytimes.com> Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 20:41:28 +0000 Subject: Re: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 Huh -- is that all they do, is just go back and ask the original reporter, and if the reporter says it's OK, then they leave it? But of course the reporter is always going to say that. Is there any way to get somebody to actually fact-check it, independent of the reporter? -Bennett
Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 11:53:14 -0400 To: bennett@peacefire.org From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 Dear Mr. Haselton, I noted your concern to Mr. Okrent. I am sorry, we would like to be helpful, but this matter has come down to your word against Mr. Brick's and Microsoft will not comment because this is a personnel issue. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor
But I didn't get a response for a month, so I wrote them again:From: "Bennett Haselton" <bhas@speakeasy.net> To: "Public" <public@nytimes.com> Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 18:38:32 +0000 Subject: Re: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 I talked to Microsoft and they also have an alumni division, which I'm a member of -- if you quit of your own accord, you can join the alumni association, but if you're fired, you can't. So since I'm a member, the alumni association can vouch for the fact that I resigned voluntarily. If you put me in touch with a fact-checker, can I put them in touch with the Microsoft Alumni Association? -Bennett
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 02:53:27 -0700 To: "Public" <public@nytimes.com> From: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> Subject: Re: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 Hi, I didn't hear back about this -- I'd still like to know, if I put the fact-checker in touch with the Microsoft Alumni division so they can confirm their records show that I left voluntarily? -Bennett At 06:38 PM 5/24/2004 +0000, Bennett Haselton wrote: >I talked to Microsoft and they also have an alumni division, which I'm a member of -- >if you quit of your own accord, you can join the alumni association, but if you're >fired, you can't. So since I'm a member, the alumni association can vouch for the fact >that I resigned voluntarily. If you put me in touch with a fact-checker, can I put them >in touch with the Microsoft Alumni Association? > >-Bennett
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 15:54:45 -0400 To: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: Re: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 Dear Mr. Haselton, I'll follow up once again. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor
From: "Bennett Haselton" <bhas@speakeasy.net> To: "Public" <public@nytimes.com> Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 20:09:28 +0000 Subject: Re: to ombudsman re: correction from 2000 Thanks, I appreciate your time.
Then on July 22, I got a phone call from Bill Borders, a senior editor at the New York Times, who said he was following up on the article. I told him he could call Nicole Audino at the Microsoft Alumni group, and gave him her number. Later that day, Nicole emailed me to confirm that Bill Borders and Arthur Bovino from the New York Times had called her, and she confirmed to them that I quit Microsoft voluntarily and was not fired. So I emailed Bill and Arthur to thank them for following up on it:
From: "Bennett Haselton" <bhas@speakeasy.net> To: borders@nytimes.com, public@nytimes.com Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 18:52:29 +0000 Subject: just heard from Nicole; thanks Hi Bill and Arthur, Just heard from Nicole and she said you did call and confirm that I had left MS in good standing; thanks. I think the article did tend to make me sound like a disgrunted fired employee who got revenge by taking proprietary company secrets and publicizing them. One other thing he didn't mention is that I found the Internet Explorer security hole several months *after* quitting Microsoft, on my own time. It wasn't based on anything proprietary that I learned while I worked there. Publicizing proprietary company information is grossly unethical, and not something I would ever consider -- not to mention the fact that I would be virtually guaranteed to be sued by Microsoft for everything I owned. Thanks for the follow-up and feel free to contact me any time you need technical information for any pieces about security or Internet technology in general, even if you decide not to quote me :) -Bennett
So I gave it a month, but the article didn't get fixed, so I emailed them again:Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 17:06:08 -0400 To: bennett@peacefire.org From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: Re: just heard from Nicole; thanks Dear Mr. Haselton, Thanks for the note. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 19:29:19 -0700 To: borders@nytimes.com, public@nytimes.com From: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> Subject: Re: just heard from Nicole; thanks Hi Bill and Arthur, I hadn't heard anything since we talked on the phone a month ago -- did you get the information you needed from Nicole with the Microsoft Alumni group? -Bennett
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 10:34:28 -0400 To: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: Re: just heard from Nicole; thanks Dear Bennett, It was my understanding that Mr. Borders had spoken with you and resolved this issue. Mr. Borders is away on vacation until Thursday. You are welcome to contact us then when I might speak with him. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor The New York Times
From: "Bennett Haselton" <bhas@speakeasy.net> To: "Public" <public@nytimes.com> Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 18:05:13 +0000 Subject: Re: just heard from Nicole; thanks He called me on the phone and he sounded like he was thinking about making the correction, or at least looking into it further, but after that I hadn't heard back from him yet. -Bennett
After another two months, the article still hadn't been fixed, so I emailed them once again:Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 14:09:14 -0400 To: bennett@peacefire.org From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: Re: just heard from Nicole; thanks Dear Bennett, As I said, Mr. Borders is on vacation. You're welcome to drop us a line on Thursday. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor The New York Times
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2004 09:51:06 -0700 To: borders@nytimes.com, public@nytimes.com From: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> Subject: after confirmation from Nicole? Hi Bill and Arthur, A few weeks ago I heard from Nicole at the Microsoft alumni org, and she said she had confirmed with you on the phone that I had left Microsoft in good standing and wasn't fired. Was there any other information I can provide? (This is in reference to the article at http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/biztech/articles/16tsc-soft.html which has says I was sacked at Microsoft...) -Bennett
This threw me since I had never heard back from them and didn't know what they meant by the issue having been "settled".Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 17:36:18 -0400 To: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: Re: after confirmation from Nicole? Dear Mr. Haselton, Mr. Borders informed me that he had settled this issue with you quite some time ago so you'll have to explain to me why you're writing us again. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor The New York Times
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 03:25:53 -0700 To: Public <public@nytimes.com> From: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> Subject: Re: after confirmation from Nicole? I'm sorry, but I never heard back from him after we talked on the phone. Did he send me an email after July 22nd? If he did, it must have been blocked or lost somehow; if you still have a copy, can you re-send it? The last I heard was that he had contacted Nicole and she confirmed that I left Microsoft in good standing. So I was under the impression they were in the process of correcting the article at http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/biztech/articles/16tsc-soft.html which says I was fired. But then I never heard anything after that. If he sent me an email it must not have been delivered somehow. -Bennett
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 15:35:15 -0400 To: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: Re: after confirmation from Nicole? Dear Mr. Haselton, My understanding was that the phone conversation resolved the issue but I checked with Mr. Borders again today. Mr. Borders said that after quite a bit of investigation involving Mr. Brick and editors at the paper and at NYTimes.com, he is satisfied that the piece that offended you those years ago never appeared in The New York Times and that a correction is not warranted. As far as this office is concerned this matter is resolved. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor The New York Times
So now they were saying that they were dropping the issue because the article only appeared online, not in the print edition. But we had already established that at the beginning of our email thread six months ago -- the whole discussion we had been having ever since then, was whether they were going to correct the online version! If they never intended to correct the online version, why did they bother calling Nicole at the Microsoft Alumni group? So I wrote them back immediately:
but they didn't respond to that email for week, so I wrote them again:Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 07:23:21 -0700 To: Public <public@nytimes.com> From: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> Subject: Re: after confirmation from Nicole? I know it never appeared in the print version. It only appeared on the NYTimes.com web site (and it's still there). Are you saying that Mr. Borders and the Office of the Public Editor do not handle corrections to articles that only appear on the NYTimes.com web site? If your office doesn't handle corrections the Web site, is there a different office that does? To clarify, I'm not asking for a correction to be printed in the newspaper. I'm only asking for the online article to be fixed. There are still people, including potential employers, who are finding it and believing the article when it says I was fired. -Bennett
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 17:17:05 -0700 To: Public <public@nytimes.com> From: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> Subject: Re: after confirmation from Nicole? I didn't get a response; can you confirm: Are you saying that the Office of the Public Editor do NOT make corrections to content that was published on the Web site, they only handle corrections to stories that appeared in print? -Bennett >I know it never appeared in the print version. It only appeared on the NYTimes.com >web site (and it's still there). > >Are you saying that Mr. Borders and the Office of the Public Editor do not handle >corrections to articles that only appear on the NYTimes.com web site? If your office >doesn't handle corrections the Web site, is there a different office that does? > >To clarify, I'm not asking for a correction to be printed in the newspaper. I'm only >asking for the online article to be fixed. There are still people, including potential >employers, who are finding it and believing the article when it says I was fired. > > -Bennett
Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2004 15:57:23 -0500 To: bennett@peacefire.org From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: 10/20 Reader Concern Dear Mr. Haselton, I checked in with Mr. Okrent and he indicated that we've said all we have to say on this subject. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor The New York Times
Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2004 22:06:06 -0800 To: Public <public@nytimes.com> From: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> Subject: Re: 10/20 Reader Concern You're not even going to give me a Yes or No answer to the question: "Do you handle corrections to the Web site in addition to the print edition?" That's getting a bit silly, don't you think? -Bennett
Date: Thu, 04 Nov 2004 01:13:39 -0500 To: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> From: Public <public@nytimes.com> Subject: Re: 10/20 Reader Concern Dear Mr. Haselton, I don't think any of our repeated answers to you over these past months have given you any indication that we handle any matters in a "silly" manner. We have been responsive and followed up on your concern despite the fact that as we have indicated your concern is with coverage which occurred before the tenure of this office. While we are not in charge of corrections, relaying readers' concerns about corrections in print or on NYTimes.com has certainly become a part of what we do. As we have told you we contacted Len Apcar from the website and noted to you that he and Bill Borders do not believe a correction is warranted. Sincerely, Arthur Bovino Office of the Public Editor The New York Times
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2004 00:58:40 -0800 To: Public <public@nytimes.com> From: Bennett Haselton <bennett@peacefire.org> Subject: Re: 10/20 Reader Concern I didn't think it was "silly" until after you and Bill Borders called Nicole on July 22 and she confirmed that I quit Microsoft in good standing. Once you knew firsthand that the article was wrong, that's when things got really bizarre. First, I didn't hear anything until I wrote again on 10/16. (That's fine, that could have been an oversight.) But then when I wrote to ask what happened, you said "this matter is resolved" because that the article "never appeared in the New York Times". We had already established that in our emails back on April 5th! The discussion we've been having ever since then, was whether you would correct the online copy of the article. Does Len Apcar even know that you and Bill Borders called Nicole and confirmed that I quit voluntarily? I know he didn't want to do anything when he thought it was just my word against Michael Brick's, but now that you've called and verified firsthand that I wasn't fired, does he know that call took place? If he does know, then how can he possibly say a correction to the web article is not warranted, when his own editors called and confirmed that it was wrong? -Bennett
Unfortunately, I got no more responses from their office after that. So it looks like the article is going to stay there even though the Public Editor and the editor in charge of corrections have both verified that it was wrong.