Ohio Rape Shows Story Travels Faster Than Facts

NEW YORK (AP) — A four-paragraph anecdote in a regional newspaper ignited a media fire over abortion that engulfed President Joe Biden, the partisan press and some of the nation’s top news organizations. The story about an alleged rape of a 10-year-old Ohio girl who had to travel to Indiana for an abortion touched on a white-hot issue due to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion. The speed at which the story moved also raised questions about journalist’s sourcing in stories and how stories can be quickly taken over by political pundits. The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post issued corrections or clarifications to what they had written about the case.