Following Colorado Media Matters item, Gazette corrected falsehood that "Democrat leadership" barred pro-life Democrats from speaking at DNC

Following an August 28 Colorado Media Matters item pointing out that in an editorial that day, The Gazette of Colorado Springs incorrectly asserted that "Democrat leadership also forbade pro-life Democrats from being seen or heard" at the Democratic National Convention, the newspaper published a correction on August 29. The correction stated that Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (PA) -- who the newspaper said "is pro-life" -- in his DNC speech addressed his "honest disagreement" with Obama regarding the issue of abortion.

Contrary to the Gazette's August 28 assertion that the DNC "was staged as a love fest, and anyone who didn't agree to unconditional love for the official platform and candidate wasn't welcome anywhere near the podium," Colorado Media Matters noted that Casey addressed the issue of abortion during a prime-time speech on August 26 in which he stated, "Barack Obama and I have an honest disagreement on the issue of abortion. But the fact that I'm speaking here tonight is testament to Barack's ability to show respect for the views of people who may disagree with him."

The Gazette on August 29 issued a correction to the editorial online and in its print edition that read:

CORRECTION

Tuesday's Our View, "Just another infomercial" criticized the Democratic National Convention for excluding speakers with pro-life messages. In fact, Democratic Sen. Robert Casey, Jr., said from the podium:

"Barack Obama and I have an honest disagreement on the issue of abortion."

Casey is pro-life. The Gazette's opinion staff regrets the error. [italics in original]

—C.K.