My experience with a New York Times article, 2/24/07 to 3/19/08

• Update: Yet another meaningful change in an archived NY Times article. The original version of a 2007 Jack Curry article has been altered without explanation. Excised is reference to the Red Sox offering Andy Pettitte a $52 million contract in 2003.

A NY Times article by Jack Curry published on 2/25/07 remained in its original form online for about a year. Sometime between 2/24/08 and 3/19/2008 words from the article were changed. I copied the original opening words of the article on 2/24/07 (which happened to mention Andy Pettitte) onto this blog, and referenced them 3 times after that for different reasons, double checking the linked content each time. I list these below.

• The original article's (2/25/07) purported subject expressed in its title, "Rivera, Free Agent to Be, Closes Door on Boston," was to wonder if Mariano Rivera might ever consider pitching for the Red Sox (not saying it had been offered or rumored, the article just wondered). It went on to say Rivera didn't think he could do that though he has friends on the Red Sox. In choosing to portray a story about Yankees/Red Sox the NY Times opened the article by writing of the 4 year $52 million offer the Red Sox made Andy Pettitte in 2003 which he declined. I copied this portion of the article and pasted it on my blog on 2/24/07.

When you see this particular NY Times article today, the reference to Andy Pettitte has been removed without explanation. In posts about Pettitte between 8/26/07 and 3/19/08 where I used this Jack Curry article for substantiation, I've now inserted another source for the 2003 Red Sox offer to Pettitte. (There are still at least 3 legitimate sources about the Red Sox offer to Pettitte online, all of which I've copied. One of them is Dave Anderson of the NY Times).

• Sometime after my post of 2/24/08 the Pettitte words were removed from the Curry article. In that post I featured a picture of George Mitchell with the rest of Red Sox ownership. Below the photo, for the sake of history I noted that this group had made Andy Pettitte a $52 million offer in 2003. I happened to re-read the post on March 19, clicked on the link to the NY Times/Jack Curry story, and noticed the first paragraph had changed. No mention of Pettitte there or anywhere in the story.

Since I copied the original 2/25/07 NY Times Pettitte reference to the blog, I can copy it again here. From my post on 2/24/07 which I titled: "Rats-I was hoping Rivera would stick it to the Yanks, but demurs on idea of Red Sox":

• 'Per the NY Times, "When Andy Pettitte, Rivera’s friend, was a free agent in 2003, he never considered Boston’s four-year, $52 million offer and signed with the Houston Astros for three years and $31.5 million. Pettitte said he could not pitch for the Red Sox because of his alliance with the Yankees. Now, apparently, Rivera feels the same way." ...
• (Searching for fodder, a reporter asked Mariano if he could envision being on the Red Sox, says the article).

• “There’s too much between the teams,” Rivera said. “I like some of their players. They’re my friends. I just don’t think it would be possible.”

(Not saying the Red Sox have even asked, the media were pitching speculation). "Rivera, who has been a member of the Yankees organization since 1990, has known only wanting to beat Boston, and that mission appears unlikely to change."

• From the NY Times article by Jack Curry, 2/25/07,"Rivera, Free Agent to be, Closes Door on Boston." You may just get their cookies page.' ***

The same article today, same title, "Rivera, Free Agent to be, Closes Door on Boston" opens differently:

• "Feb. 24 (2007)— Mariano Rivera, the Yankees’ closer, smiled while he was told some of the recent developments regarding the Boston Red Sox. Curt Schilling will become a free agent after the season. Manny Ramírez is not yet in camp. Daisuke Matsuzaka is a pitching machine.

But Rivera, who also said he would test free agency after 2007, turned serious when he was asked if he could envision himself pitching for Boston.“I don’t think so,” Rivera said."....

• From NY Times article by Jack Curry, 2/24/07, "Rivera Free Agent to be Closes Door on Boston," 2/25/07********

History of my notations about this article starting with most recent:

• 1. Feb. 24, 2008 post which I updated March 19, titled, "Hi Andy, great to see you," about Mr. Steinbrenner greeting Andy Pettitte for the first time this season. At the top I posted a picture of George Mitchell along with the rest of Red Sox ownership with the following headline: ***Forgotten fact: In 2003, The Boston Red Sox offered Pettitte more than Houston or the Yankees, $52 million over 4 years, and Pettitte turned it down.***

• 2. Feb. 19, 2008, with an update on 3/19/08. References earlier post from 8/26/07 using this same Curry/NY Times article for a point about Pettitte. "Getting it Right About Mr. Pettitte on an 8/26/07 item." The premise of the post sought a correction from the NY Daily News regarding salary offers to Andy Pettitte in 2003- which the Daily News had stated incorrectly.

• 3. Aug. 26, 2007 post, "NY Daily News Comments About Andy Pettitte 8/26/07 Don't Check Out," the paper saying Pettitte only went to Houston because it was the most money. That was incorrect, Houston was his lowest offer, the Red Sox being highest. I linked to the 2/25/07 article by Jack Curry as substantiation for the Red Sox offer, as I had copied the part relevant to Pettitte it to my blog on 2/24/07. The fact still stands about the Red Sox offer to Pettitte in 3 other sources online (at this moment), but not in the 2/25/07 NY Times article by Jack Curry.

• 4. Feb. 24, 25, 2007 post, links to original NY Times article by Jack Curry, "Rivera, Free Agent to be, Closes Door on Boston," in my post, "Rats-I was hoping Rivera would stick it to the Yanks, but Demurs on idea of Red Sox." This was my first post linking to the Curry article. In this case, I just happened to copy the opening sentences which happened to be about Pettitte.

Although I don't know who altered the article--it could be no one associated with the NY Times- I did notice an article on the subject of altering or editing archival documents, "Re-Writing History: Should Editors Delete or Alter Online Content?" by Elizabeth Zwerling, associate professor of journalism, posted on 8/22/07, from the Annenberg School of Communications at USC. From the article:

• ""We've always had a sense that the archive is historical," (Craig) Whitney (Standards Editor for the NY Times) said. "What's changed is now anybody can consult it from home. We haven't figured out what to do, if anything. We've had some meetings and we'll have some more to… figure out something to do that's ethically responsible, that doesn't compromise the integrity of the archives, but addresses the need for clarification, elaboration," Whitney said adding that the Times has never deleted anything from its online archives. "I doubt if we ever would. The question is, is there something else we can do that falls short of rewriting history?"...

When a story, column or even a reader response to a story is posted online then transferred to the publication's archive, "it's a matter of record," said Robert Steele, a scholar of journalism ethics and values at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. "To change it would change a piece of history."

• If editors start removing some stories or parts of stories from archives, readers will begin to wonder what else is missing, Steele said."...

I've documented my experience with a NY Times article. Somehow the article was altered after having been archived for about a year. I don't know who altered it, but it was altered.

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