Time defends reporter over MLK bust

Time magazine is defending its White House reporter, pushing back on claims from White House officials that he deliberately shared an inaccurate report that a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Time editor-in-chief Nancy Gibbs noted that the reporter Zeke Miller moved quickly to correct the error after sending a press pool report incorrectly stating that the bust had been removed.

“No news organization ever wants to make an error, but we all have procedures for handling them when we do,” Gibbs wrote. “Zeke moved quickly to correct the record, and we stand behind him for taking responsibility for the mistake.”

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Top aides to President Trump seized on the claim over the weekend, noting that the bust was still present and pointing to the mistaken report as an example of deliberately negative press coverage of the new president.

Trump on Saturday also called out the reporter by name during remarks at the CIA, citing it as an example of “how dishonest the media is.”

Miller had apparently looked for the bust, but was unable to see it because it was blocked from view by a door and agent. He tweeted his apologies on the night of the mistaken report, which was accepted by White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

Apology accepted https://t.co/dYqwRv1p0f

— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) January 21, 2017

Gibbs pointed out at that Miller was quick to correct the mistake, emailing other journalists and tweeting apologies for the error. At one point, Gibbs said, the reporter asked a White House advisor to pass on his apology to Trump.

“The President and White House aides have cited this mistake as an example of ‘deliberately false reporting,’” she wrote. “It was no such thing.”

Trump and his aides have long complained about negative media attention, and continued to seize on Miller’s error, suggesting it was a blatant act of media bias.

Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway railed against the incident on Monday during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

“The darn bust was right there,” she said. “I was next to it. It was being hidden by a guard. But why didn’t you ask us? Why didn’t you say, ‘Where’s the bust?'”