Misstating facts? Isn’t that their stock in trade?

Dictionaries define “misstate” as making wrong or inaccurate statements; to express a fact that is not correct; or to state wrongly or falsely. Take your pick.  Any of the choices fit the misuse of facts that appears to be the standard of the Arizona Republic newspaper.

Case in point: Saturday‘s edition. Under Corrections & Clarifications — tucked away on page 4 of the Valley and State section, nestled between ‘Today in History’ and ‘How to Reach Circulation (presumably the desk)  — are two blunders, being acknowledged as such by whomever is in charge. These are their words:

“The face in front of a fiasco,” May 15, 1A:

The article misstated the number of people who showed up at the polls for the presidential preference election March with their early ballots. The number cited, 11,500, was the number of people on the early-voting list who arrived at the polls without their ballots and wanted to vote in person. The number of voters who showed up at the polls to drop off their completed early ballots is unknown.

The article was among many that pilloried Maricopa Country Recorder Helen Purcell for longer than anticipated lines on Election Day, erroneously making the woman known for her integrity appear nefarious and derelict in her duties, even part of a conspiracy to disenfranchised voters when thousands of unanticipated, ineligible would-be voters showed up at election centers.  The newspaper printed baseless accusations by ill-informed voters, including that of Purcell “being on the take” due to fewer polling places and called on her to step down. The newspaper should apologize for every bogus report it printed. A month-and-a-half is a long time to ponder whether this miscalculation was worthy of correction.

“SRP home customers to get summer savings,” June 24, Business, 14A:

The Salt River project sponsorship of the NCAA Final Four games in Glendale next year was approved only by a committee of board members. It still needs approval from the full board of directors. The article misstated who approved it.

Five or fifty board members? We can’t let facts get in the way of agenda. This is the newspaper that routinely crafts devious headlines that include the words, “May,” “Might,” and  “Could” in ongoing efforts to sway public opinion. Seeing Red AZ views this as the motivation behind the Arizona Republic’s reckless assaults.