A Times news article about a Web site that covers gossip about black celebrities includes the following passage:
"There is so much drama with black people that doesn't get covered," said Allison Samuels, who is African-American and has reported on the entertainment industry for Newsweek for two decades.
"People covers four black people: Beyoncé, Rihanna and Jay Z and Kanye," she said, referring to those popular singers. "I want to know what other actresses are wearing and who they are dating. Fred was smart to realize the hole and get in there and capitalize."
It is not accurate that People magazine "covers four black people." A quick look at the People Web site discloses coverage of Anthony Mackie, Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry, Will Smith, Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, Queen Latifah, and Michelle Obama, to name just a few.
The Times doesn't give People the opportunity to respond to the inaccurate characterization, which is no less egregious for the fact that it comes in a quotation rather than in a sentence that is outside quotation marks.