TMZ Issues Retraction on Purported Kennedy-Nude Women Exclusive

At least they've got the honesty to admit when they're wrong. See, "Kennedy Picture -- A Fake" (via Memeorandum):

TMZ reports reports on Playboy's confirmation that the alleged John F. Kennedy-nude women photo was published in Playboy Magazine in 1967. (Check the Smoking Gun's post for more on the background, "TMZ Falls For JFK Photo Hoax.")

Now, while TMZ is perhaps the leading gossip webzine in operation today, its retraction is an excellent example of journalistic standards bloggers ought to respect.

Recall my report the other day on Spencer Ackerman's recent dismissal of al Qaeda's attempted Northwest attack as a "desperate bid for relevance." Doug Ross picked up on my reporting with his entry, "Oops. Leftist apologists for terror screw up again (Chapter 4,860)." But checking "Attackerman's" page we find no retraction of his claims, and in fact he's moved on to make preposterous allegations suggesting that Joseph Lieberman's calling for an invasion of Yemen. (William Jacobson deftly shot down that stupid meme: "Obama Already Has Started Joe Lieberman's Yemen War.")

Frankly, following TMZ's example, Ackerman should issue his own apology and retraction. I'm not holding my breath. Both Charles Cooper at CBS and Darren Lenard Hutchinson still owe me an apology for their epic-fail posts from November (the latter attacking me as "Rightwing Fecal Matter").

I'm also waiting for E.D. Kain to publicly apologize for his campaign of intimidation and threats to my livelihood after he contacted my administration to get American Power to STFU. He's flatly said he had no responsibility to air his quarrels at the his blog, although he'd done exactly that previously -- in debate with Dan Riehl -- when the stakes weren't as potentially devastating to his already sullied reputation.

I've taken down two post recently. Luckily, readers and fellow bloggers caught my mistakes before they were widely distributed around the web. Had they caught the attention of the targets, I would have published an apology. It's simply a matter of principle. Some folks have it, even those at TMZ, and some don't.

RELATED: William Jacobson on TMZ's retraction, "TMZ Experts Say Obamacare Will Reduce the Deficit and Expand Care."

UPDATE: TMZ has changed the headline of their story to read, "Man in Photo is Not JFK." Interesting that I took a screencap!