The latest example is the fact that right-wing bloggers are mocking an AP story which fact-checked Sarah Palin's new book. Why the mockery? Because the AP item was compiled by 11 staffers.

Mark Steyn at NRO claims the AP's use of resources is a perfect example why “American newspapers are dying.”

Writes Steyn:

Wow. That's ten “AP writers” plus Calvin Woodward, the AP writer whose twinkling pen honed the above contributions into the turgid sludge of the actual report. That's 11 writers for a 695-word report. What on? Obamacare? The Iranian nuke program? The upcoming trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?

No, the Associated Press assigned 11 writers to “fact-check” Sarah Palin's new book, and in return the 11 fact-checkers triumphantly unearthed six errors. That's 1.8333333 writers for each error. What earth-shattering misstatements did they uncover for this impressive investment? Stand well back:

Steyn either doesn't understand how newsrooms work or he's playing dumb. (I'm going with the former.)

Why did the AP uses so many writers to fact-check Palin's book? Simple, Going Rogue hasn't been officially released yet and advance copies of the book were not sent out to journalists, which means reporters weren't able to fact-check it ahead of time. And now that the book has (sadly) become a big news item, the AP wanted, as quickly as possible, try to fact-check the book. What's the best way to do that? You basically assign one chapter to each reporter and have them go to work. Then, in a very short amount of time, you're able to fact-check the entire book, rather than asking one person to take on that large task.

But Steyn, apparently unaware of how newsrooms work, is astonished that the AP would use so many writers on the Palin article.

Also telling is the fact that Steyn mocks the AP for only finding six errors, or “1.833333” per-writer. That's an interesting twist on logic. Is Steyn suggesting the AP should have known before reading the book how many errors it would find? Is conservative Steyn amazed the AP didn't find more errors in the Palin book? And if so, what does that say about Palin's standing?

The AP didn't assign 11 people to speed read and fact-check Palin's book because it thought it would find four dozen errors, or because it thought it would find just three errors. The AP assigned a team to speed read and fact-check Palin's book not knowing how many errors it would find, but wanted to find out the answer. i.e. It wanted to undertake a journalistic endeavor.

Is that so hard for Steyn to figure out?