JustASC

Can we retire forever the journalistic wiggle construction ”is said” or “was said”? By whom? To whom? This is from a New York Times article on reaction to the death of chess great Bobby Fischer:

Bobby attended Erasmus Hall High School on Flatbush Avenue, where he was said to be friendly with Barbra (then spelled “Barbara”) Streisand.

Says who? Did anyone check with Barbra? Here’s Fischer, in a 2004 interview with a Phillipines radio station. Of course with Fischer, you have to control for his mental state:

Anchor: Bobby, is it true that when you were in high school one of your classmates was Barbara Streisand?

Fischer: I’ve heard this. I remember some mousy looking girl. Maybe that was her, I don’t know.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 10:53 am and is filed under JustASC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.