My colleague Eric Boehlert and Brad Friedman of The Brad Blog have been all over the New York Times' failure to correct its erroneous reporting that James O'Keefe was dressed in an outlandish pimp costume while meeting with ACORN community organizers. I just want to jump in for a second to spell something out.

New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt has told Friedman that, going forward, “I am recommending to Times editors that they avoid language that says or suggests that O'Keefe was dressed as a pimp when he captured the ACORN employees on camera.”

Obviously, Hoyt would have no reason to make such a recommendation if the Times had any proof that O'Keefe was dressed in his over-the-top pimp costume while meeting with the ACORN employees.

But Hoyt also told Friedman “I still don't see that a correction is in order, because that would require conclusive evidence that The Times was wrong, which I haven't seen.”

Therefore, it seems the New York Times requires a higher standard of proof for retracting claims than for making them.

Simply astounding.