Although many news outlets have done a horrendous job with their coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing, the New York Post in particular is by far, the media’s most prolific offender. First they “reported” that 12 people died while the official death toll stood at 3. Then they falsely accused a 20-year-old Saudi national of being a suspect. Despite these two major screw-ups, the Post went ahead and published yet another marathon-related scoop, this time on the front page of today’s paper. It was emblazoned with the words “BAG MEN” along with a sub-headline that reads: “Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon.”
As it turns out, this article was also very, very wrong and completely unfounded. And it’s not surprising. This isn’t the first (and won’t be the last) time the tabloid ran with a cover story that was complete bullshit. Here are some other front page fuck-ups perpetrated by the fiercely unapologetic rag:
In July 2004, the New York Post wrongly claimed that presidential candidate John Kerry chose Richard Gephardt as his running mate for vice president. Oops.
In June 2010, the New York Post ran this reality-defying cover suggesting the U.S. won the World Cup. Not even close to true.
In December 2010, the New York Post said that sanitation workers purposely sabotaged cleanup of an intense blizzard. That was false.
In May 2011, the New York Post insinuated that Osama Bin Laden was busy watching porn at his compound in Pakistan with this cover. By their own admission this is unsubstantiated.
In July 2011, the New York Post characterized the hotel maid and alleged rape victim involved in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal as a hooker. But was she?
In October 2011, the New York Post said a Yankee fan in Libya killed Khadafy [sic]. That’s very unlikely.
In July 2012, the New York Post tried to make a link between a murder and Occupy Wall Street. That didn’t pan out.
As mentioned above, here’s the cover that the New York Post ran with today that was entirely untrue. And they’re defending it.
