Do you remember this headline from last week? It had a nice run in the buzz bin, especially online:

Pressure Builds on Obama to Shake Up Inner Circle

And the definitive lede [emphasis added]:

Some high-level Democrats are calling for President Barack Obama to remake his inner circle or even fire top advisers in response to what many party strategists expect to be a decisive defeat on Tuesday.

Slight hitch, though. The article didn't quote a single “high-level” Democrat who was actually calling for Obama to remake his inner circle. Not one. In fact, the article itself barely even addressed the idea of Obama remaking his “inner circle.” There was a complete disconnect between the headline-grabbing lede and the rest of the article. (i.e. Very bad journalism.)

Folks at MediaBugs.org noticed that and contacted editors and reporters at Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal and tried to get a response or an explanation as to why a prominent article in the newspaper about the Obama White House wasn't supported by facts. The Journal's response? There was none.

From MediaBugs:

Over the past week we contacted the Journal five times seeking a response to the error report. We emailed a reporter, a managing editor and a general address designated for reporting errors to the newsroom. We also called the phone number listed with corrections info in the print edition. We haven't received any response.

This isn't the first time we've encountered a void when trying to reach the Journal about an error report. And while the previous instance involved a minor mistake, this one is more substantial.

Not sure which is worse, when editors concoct headlines and ledes, or when they stonewall readers who call them out.