The New York Times corrected a story about Donald Trump’s wife Melania five times Thursday, ushering in criticism for careless reporting.
CNN says that the errors, which ranged from spelling errors to a slip-up about a major political figure, could have been easily verified prior to publishing.
The range of mistakes included:
1) The article spelled the name of Rupert Murdoch’s ex-wife as ‘Wendy’ rather than the correct version, ‘Wendi.’
2) The surname of an editor at The Palm Beach Daily News was spelled ‘Jangigian’ instead of ‘Janjigian.’ The writer’s role was also misidentified – the article listed him as a society reporter, when he oversees fashion coverage.
3) The story referred to a photo of Melania Trump (née Knauss) in Talk magazine, writing that she was 26 at the time, "more than a quarter-century younger" than Trump, her future husband. Knauss was actually 29, making her "almost a quarter-century younger."
4) It stated that Melania Trump attended the CNN debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in September. Mrs. Trump did not attend that debate, though she was in attendance at the Fox News debate in August.
And the most notable error:
5) The article wrote that prominent presidential candidate Marco Rubio is a member of the House of Representatives, when he is actually a member of the United States Senate.
According to CNN, the digital version of the piece also included a photo of Melania Trump in a bikini. Soon after the article was published, the photo was removed. The New York Times declined to say why they removed the photo.
The story was written by culture and style reporter Guy Trebay.