VPAP has taken the unusual step of removing a news article that appeared in this morning's edition of VaNews. We take no issue with the accuracy of the reporting of the Virginia Lawyers Weekly, a respected publication. However, we believe that in hindsight many readers could find the article's headline to be misleading. Because the article is behind a paywall, most VaNews subscribers will not have the opportunity to read the article to judge for themselves.

The article involves an August 3 decision by a Richmond circuit court judge to grant a temporary injunction against removing the statue until a group of Monument Avenue residents have an opportunity to be heard on their argument that removing the Lee statue would violate their property rights.

There have been no new developments in the case since Aug. 3. Because of its deadlines, Virginia Lawyers Weekly had to wait until this week to publish a story under the headline: "Judge: Lee statue plaintiffs may have meritorious case."

In hindsight, VPAP should not have included the article. Its inclusion suggested wrongly there had been movement in the case. For readers who assumed this was a new development, the headline could create the false impression that Monument Avenue residents had made headway in their legal attempts to block Gov. Northam from removing the Lee statue.

Those who want to read the article can find it here ([link removed]) .

Our goal in VaNews is to filter out misleading or false news. This was an unusual case where a legitimate news article -- simply because of its timing and the headline -- could have create a false impression. We should not have included it in today's clips.



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