Huffington Post: "Palin Will Run in '12 on More Retardation Platform"

Wow. WTG, HuffPo. What editor approved this MASSIVE fail? And why have they still not retracted it or apologized two hours later?

I spend so much time defending online news outlets. I believe they’re capable of providing the same quality of coverage as print media. In fact, they’re capable of BETTER coverage because they’re not constrained by the time limitations involved in printing and distributing. Then something like this happens to highlight the absolute lack of accountability that can come from online media’s obsession with instant news distribution.

When I worked at a newspaper, we had time to discuss potentially controversial editorials. Something this offensive never would have made it past the idea stage. But not only was this idea presented, it was actually written up, and then POSTED. I don’t doubt that it happened very quickly,  because online news outlets are so obsessed with being first to react to breaking news. They don’t slow down to decide whether what they’re writing is accurate, ethical, or (at the very least) not incredibly offensive.

The story has since been taken down from the Huffington Post, thankfully. I still want to know who approved it to begin with. That editor and the writer should both be fired, and HuffPo needs to take a serious look at their editorial process. Holy crap.