On Media Blog Archives Select Date… December, 2015 November, 2015 October, 2015 September, 2015 August, 2015 July, 2015 June, 2015 May, 2015 April, 2015 March, 2015 February, 2015 January, 2015

Getty Washington Post pulls Biden campaign launch story after 'glitch'

The Washington Post published an item Monday evening to its website with the headline “Biden to launch a presidential campaign.”

But even the fast clickers were disappointed to reach a page on the Washington Post website titled “Editor’s Note” that read, “This file was inadvertently published.”

Was an embargo deal inadvertently broken in a publishing flub? It appears not.

Post congressional reporter Paul Kane, whose byline appeared on the article, was quick to tweet out the details. It seems this wasn’t news published before it was ready—just a “shell” story prepared so that the Post could push the button faster in case Biden did announce.

“Earlier tonight, a technical glitch caused publication of a just-in-case/when-we-kno story of VP running for president,” he told his 10,000 followers on Twitter. “It happened when editors were embedding video file. It carries my byline. I regret that it was published accidentally. Deep apologies.”

Just how “what-if” was this story when written? “Finally, to be clear, we don't know if it's a yes or a no. Full disclosure: I have a he-says-no-story also written,” Kane wrote in a post to Twitter.

A Washington Post spokesperson quickly confirmed the details of Kane’s account.

“The story was immediately pulled down,” the spokesperson added, “and the Post regrets the error.”

The Post has been upping its game against competitors for breaking news stories in recent months, after the newspaper was sold by longtime owners in the Graham family to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.

This year, the company announced traffic records that could put it on a path to matching The New York Times online by next year.

The lead of the original story was captured, before it was pulled, by news aggregator Newsblock; you can see it here.

It read: “Vice President Biden plans to enter the contest for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, ending months of speculation about his intentions and delivering a jolt to an already unpredictable contest, according to XXX sources familiar with his … .”

