Many editors, such as Jack Shafer of Slate.com, claim to use their olfactory perception to identify inaccurate, biased, plagiarized, or fabricated journalism. Yet, this ability to "snoot out the stink factor," as Shafer puts it, can fail as he admits.

Such failure has been demonstrated by Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass at the New York Times and The New Republic, respectively. After listing a series of now debunked stories, Shafer wrote: "I'm embarrassed to confess that every Glass story passed my stink test when first published in the New Republic." (See "Glass Houses")

But history, as they say, repeats. In 2001, Jack Shafer was caught up in another scandal—this time involving Slate writer Jay Forman, who claimed to have gone fishing for, of all things, monkeys in the Florida Keys. The trip never happened but the story, falsehoods and all, wafted undetected under Shafer’s snout (See "Jay Forman Redux" )

Though it took six years for the whole story to emerge, two diligent Columbia Journalism students forced the issue. Jay Forman admitted to editor Jack Shafer that the piece was fabricated. This was a rare case when journalistic justice prevailed.

Most often, readers find that misdeeds and errors are often overlooked—their complaints unanswered, their requests for corrections, conveniently, ignored.

It is Stinky Journalism’s goal, therefore, to provide a forum to air the stink that may have otherwise gone undetected.

Stinky Journalism's News Section will:

1. Follow current ongoing issues in journalism ethics and promote discussion on media transgressions, such as factual errors and ensuing corrections, or lack thereof. Visitors are encouraged to post comments and add their own examples of journalistic transgressions.

2. Post ASRL staff's current "Correction Request" listings. Updates about our group's efforts include details and links to our ongoing investigations, our actions to achieve corrections, and notes on resolved cases.