Never let the facts get in the way of a good story

New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman, took the above semi-satirical mantra about "journalism" to heart this weekend when he penned a column that, among other falsehoods, stated that France has “managed to deal with all the radioactive waste issues without any problems or panics.”  No evidence of this - quite the contrary - see our Letter to the Editor (as yet unpublished).  But Friedman either didn't bother - or refused to look. (After all, it's pretty easy to miss 81 tons of plutonium sitting at La Hague with nowhere to go and 100 million gallons of liquid radioactive waste discharged annually into the English Channel. No waste problem there.)

He also described the now canceled Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository as "totally safe." No scientific evidence of this. But then, who's looking? Not Friedman.

He mentions that French mayors "clamor to have reactors in their towns to create jobs". Utter nonsense. One French mayor of Dieppe - who was besieged by sit-in protesters - did advocate for only the second proposed new reactor in France. A couple of mayors thought having low-level waste dumps might be nice. Not much of a clamor.

Should the Times change its slogan to "all the nonense that's fit to print?"

You can read our letter or write to Tom Friedman yourself to complain. We'll be taking the column to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.