RNS - Religion News Service, apologizes for inaccurate story on Delta Air Lines.

The liberal web site Huffington Post ran one of the first stories last week about Delta Air Lines discriminating against Jews after they carried the story from RNS, the Religion News Service. Now, five days later, Huffington Post updated their web site with an apology from RNS for the inaccurate coverage. Here is a statement from the Delta Air Lines web site that brought this to my attention.

Media outlet admits incomplete and inaccurate reporting on Delta
June 27, 2011

The Religion News Service, which ran an inaccurate story last week claiming Delta discriminates against Jewish people that was then picked up by mainstream media, ran a retraction Friday acknowledging its inaccuracies in an editor’s note.

“The RNS story on Delta Air Lines’ pending partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines that was distributed on June 23 contained incomplete information about Saudi visa policies and U.S. Jews’ ability to fly Delta flights to Saudi Arabia. The story was not fully edited according to RNS standards,” said the retraction that ran at the bottom of an updated story on HuffingtonPost.com Friday.

“RNS takes very seriously its commitment to accuracy, balance and thorough reporting, and the June 23 story failed to meet those expectations. Steps are being taken to correct and improve our internal editing process. We regret that the story was transmitted with incomplete information, as well as any unintended implication that Delta would be adopting policies of the Saudi government.”

From the Huffington Post:

RELIGION NEWS SERVICE EDITOR'S NOTE:
The RNS story on Delta Air Lines’ pending partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines that was distributed on June 23 contained incomplete information about Saudi visa policies and U.S. Jews’ ability to fly Delta flights to Saudi Arabia. The story was not fully edited according to RNS standards:

-While Saudi Arabia does not issue visas to citizens carrying Israeli passports, Saudi officials say an Israeli stamp in a U.S. passport is not a barrier to entry, even for a stop in transit.

-While Saudi Arabia does not allow non-Islamic religious articles within its borders, religious identity and a passenger’s religious articles are not barriers to flights on either Delta or Saudi Arabian Airlines flights.

-Airline alliance programs typically allow passengers on one airline to book tickets on another, or redeem frequent flyer points on partner airlines. On Friday, Delta said such “code-sharing” agreements will not be part of its alliance with Saudi Arabian Airlines, nor will Delta passengers be able to redeem Delta frequent flyer miles on the Saudi airline.

RNS takes very seriously its commitment to accuracy, balance and thorough reporting, and the June 23 story failed to meet those expectations. Steps are being taken to correct and improve our internal editing process. We regret that the story was transmitted with incomplete information, as well as any unintended implication that Delta would be adopting policies of the Saudi government.

This false, outrageous and inflammatory accusation against Delta Air Lines that lit up a firestorm of protests on the Internet even sparked a request for a Federal investigation as reported by USA Today.

Sen. Kirk wants FAA to investigate alleged religious discrimination by Delta

Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk (R) called Friday for the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate allegations Delta Airlines blocked Jewish passengers from flying as part of an agreement with a Saudi Arabian airline.

USA Today reported Thursday on rumors circulating Internet that as part of Saudi Arabian Airlines’s agreement to join Delta’s SkyTeam alliance, Delta would enforce a Saudi ban on passengers from Israel and non-Islamic religious artifacts.
Delta denied the accusation, saying it had a nondiscrimination policy, but Kirk still called for an investigation Friday.

“I am deeply concerned by the June 23, 2011, report in USA Today entitled ‘U.S. Jews not able to fly on Delta flights to Saudi Arabia,’” Kirk wrote in a letter to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “If true, this policy appears to violate the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause while undermining the purpose of the Federal Aviation Administration – to promote the safety and expansion of U.S. civil aviation.