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Looks they're gonna investigate and perhaps post something next week. https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/journalistic-standards.1511650/ https://arstechnica.

by the8472 8mo ago

Looks they're gonna investigate and perhaps post something next week. https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/journalistic-standards.1511650/ https://arstechnica.com/civis/threads/journalistic-standards...

mikestew 8mo ago
Yeah, “we just made shit up in an article, destroying trust in our publication, but we will get around to investigating when we have a little free time in the next week or so.” No, you just shipped the equivalent to a data-destroying bug: it’s all-hands-over-the-holiday-weekend time.
- jasonwatkinspdx 8mo ago
  It's the weekend and Monday is a holiday in the US.
  - mikestew 8mo ago
    Yes, hence “holiday weekend” in my comment. They posted an article that had fabricated quotes. When might it be appropriate to start investigating that problem, and work on ensuring that it doesn’t happen again?
    - coldpie 8mo ago
      On Tuesday, when they get back to work.
    - jasonwatkinspdx 8mo ago
      We'll be sure to get the Avengers on it real quick! Thanks for helping us understand the urgency required.
      - Dylan16807 8mo ago
        I don't think you get to be this snarky about helping people understand things, when your initial contribution was to read "it's all hands over the holiday weekend time" and reply by saying it's a holiday weekend.
        jasonwatkinspdx 8mo ago
        They did a stealth edit to not look as foolish. They didn't mention the holiday or weekend in what I replied to originally. That's why I snapped back with snark.
        Dylan16807 8mo ago
        Oh, and then they basically lied about it? That sucks.
        mikestew 8mo ago
        https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47029103 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47029103
        mikestew 8mo ago
        There was no stealth edit, you just didn’t read with comprehension the first time. Though the fact that you think those words weren’t there explains your weird reply to my original comment.
coldpie 8mo ago
For anyone who comes across this in the future, Ars published an official retraction: https://arstechnica.com/staff/2026/02/editors-note-retraction-of-article-containing-fabricated-quotations/ https://arstechnica.com/staff/2026/02/editors-note-retractio... And Benj posted an explanation & admitted fault: https://bsky.app/profile/benjedwards.com/post/3mewgow6ch22p https://bsky.app/profile/benjedwards.com/post/3mewgow6ch22p I haven't decided whether or not to cancel, but even after these explanations I'm still pretty disappointed in this event & how it was handled.

by the8472 8mo ago

mikestew 8mo ago

Yeah, “we just made shit up in an article, destroying trust in our publication, but we will get around to investigating when we have a little free time in the next week or so.” No, you just shipped the equivalent to a data-destroying bug: it’s all-hands-over-the-holiday-weekend time.

jasonwatkinspdx 8mo ago
It's the weekend and Monday is a holiday in the US.
- mikestew 8mo ago
  Yes, hence “holiday weekend” in my comment. They posted an article that had fabricated quotes. When might it be appropriate to start investigating that problem, and work on ensuring that it doesn’t happen again?
  - coldpie 8mo ago
    On Tuesday, when they get back to work.
  - jasonwatkinspdx 8mo ago
    We'll be sure to get the Avengers on it real quick! Thanks for helping us understand the urgency required.
    - Dylan16807 8mo ago
      I don't think you get to be this snarky about helping people understand things, when your initial contribution was to read "it's all hands over the holiday weekend time" and reply by saying it's a holiday weekend.
      - jasonwatkinspdx 8mo ago
        They did a stealth edit to not look as foolish. They didn't mention the holiday or weekend in what I replied to originally. That's why I snapped back with snark.
        Dylan16807 8mo ago
        Oh, and then they basically lied about it? That sucks.
        mikestew 8mo ago
        https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47029103 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47029103
        mikestew 8mo ago
        There was no stealth edit, you just didn’t read with comprehension the first time. Though the fact that you think those words weren’t there explains your weird reply to my original comment.

coldpie 8mo ago

For anyone who comes across this in the future, Ars published an official retraction: https://arstechnica.com/staff/2026/02/editors-note-retraction-of-article-containing-fabricated-quotations/ https://arstechnica.com/staff/2026/02/editors-note-retractio... And Benj posted an explanation & admitted fault: https://bsky.app/profile/benjedwards.com/post/3mewgow6ch22p https://bsky.app/profile/benjedwards.com/post/3mewgow6ch22p I haven't decided whether or not to cancel, but even after these explanations I'm still pretty disappointed in this event & how it was handled.