USA Today Corrects NSA Wiretap Story

COMMENTLINES
The USA Today, in a note to readers, issued a correction to their 11 May 2006 NSA wiretap story saying that the call database is not as broad as reported:

"Based on its reporting after the May 11 article, USA TODAY has now concluded that while the NSA has built a massive domestic calls record database involving the domestic call records of telecommunications companies, the newspaper cannot confirm that BellSouth or Verizon contracted with the NSA to provide bulk calling records to that database."

However, reminiscent of Rathergate, USA Today stands by the story, even when it is found to be in error. From an AP story published today:

"But [USA Today] spokesman Steve Anderson said "this is an important story that holds up well. At the heart of our report is the fact that NSA is collecting phone call records of millions of Americans."

NEWSBYTES
A note to our readers
(USA Today) -- On May 11, USA TODAY reported that the National Security Agency, with the cooperation of several of America's leading telecommunications companies, had compiled a database of domestic phone call records in an effort to monitor terrorist activity.

USA Today: Call Database Not So Broad
WASHINGTON (AP) -- USA Today acknowledged in a "note to our readers" Friday that it could not establish that BellSouth or Verizon contracted with the National Security Agency to provide it with customer calling records, as the newspaper had previously reported.

NEWS SOURCES
Lawmakers: NSA database incomplete
WASHINGTON (USA Today) -- Members of the House and Senate intelligence committees confirm that the National Security Agency has compiled a massive database of domestic phone call records. But some lawmakers also say that cooperation by the nation's telecommunication companies was not as extensive as first reported by USA TODAY on May 11.

NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls
(USA Today) -- The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.

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