The WaPo: Too Square to be Hip

Alert reader Terry Cowgill, himself a fine journalist, observes this embarrassing correction by the Washington Post:

A Nov. 26 article in the District edition of Local Living incorrectly said a Public Enemy song declared 9/11 a joke. The song refers to 911, the emergency phone number.

Clearly, the reporters and copy editors responsible for the WaPo DC edition were listing to something else on their Sony Walkmen in 1990 when Public Enemy released "911 is a Joke" as the third track on Fear of a Black Planet, an album significant enough to be considered worthy of preservation by the Library of Congress in 2005.  Pitchfork Media calls it the 17th best album of the 1990's.  Take that, Nirvana!  

But perhaps these Post Toasties were underage when PE was telling everyone who saw Do The Right Thing to "fight the power zap bee", or whatever they were going on about in that song.  It's not like it was on MTV or anything.  Mind you, my college a capella group did an angelic arrangement of Fight The Power, in harmony.  Now that's old school.

Comments

[Terry Cowgill]

Tim, thanks for doing the research to put this "correction" into perspective. I've worked for a newspaper for 10 years and I know s*it happens, but this is ridiculous -- especially considering the date of the original Public Enemy song.