TOM MAGUIRE: Who Will Ombud the Ombudsmen?

Clark Hoyt, ombudsman of the NY Times, goes into the tank for Edmund Andrews, author of “Busted”, who was busted by Megan McArdle.

To recap – Edmund Andrews, Times financial reporter, is promoting a new book claiming to detail his personal journey through the dark underside of easy mortgages and financial distress.

The NY Times gave him space in the NY Times magazine to talk up his story and his book. But missing from the story is any mention of the fact that his wife has filed for personal bankruptcy not once, but twice. For a story about personal finances, that is a staggering omission, leading to some absurd phoniness in the Andrews tale.

However, Clark Hoyt addresses it this way:

Well, you’ll just have to read the whole thing. I don’t want to spoil Maguire’s work. But here’s the conclusion: “Let me join the bashing with a frontal assault – there is no way the Edmunds story can be read as accurate, honest depiction of his experience.”