Boston Globe retracts story by freelancer it says was fabricated
BOSTON The Boston Globe has told readers that parts of a story it ran on a seal hunt off Newfoundland and Labrador were fabricated by a freelance reporter who was not at the scene. The Globe says the reporter, Barbara Stewart, did not attend the event, which had actually been postponed because of bad weather. The paper says that Globe editors should have demanded attribution for details she'd provided about the hunt.
The article, published in Wednesday's editions, said that the largest seal hunt in a half a century had resumed. It described hunters on about 300 boats "shooting at harp seal cubs by the hundreds, as the ice and water turned red."
Helen Donovan, The Globe's executive editor, said the newspaper became aware there were problems with the story after it was contacted by the Canadian federal fisheries department.
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