Remember the Times’ story that 51 percent of women are living without a spouse, without drawing attention to the fact that it included 15 year-old girls and the wives of soldiers serving in Iraq? The paper’s “Public Editor” hauls that silly conclusion over the coals here. He makes the following statement that those of us who have followed for years how the media mangle statistics and science would heartily endorse:

“It was discouraging to find yet another article with an unusual angle that didn’t seem to encounter many skeptical editors as it made its way to the front page.”

But at long last, it seems the editors have finally been embarassed into doing something:

“In the wake of this controversy, Bill Keller, the executive editor, has decided to meet with staffers with expertise in statistics and demographics to create a “vetting network to help with the editing of articles dealing with those subjects,” Craig R. Whitney, an assistant managing editor and the standards editor, said Thursday.”

Well, we’ll see if anything changes, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.