NY Times Busted In Spam Claim

The New York Post is slamming the Times this morning after the Grey Lady accidentally sent a discount offer to over eight million subscribers then later claimed that the message was actually sent by spammers.

“The e-mail is SPAM and was not sent from The New York Times. We are alerting subscribers immediately,” the paper told reporters by e-mail at 2:08 p.m. “That’s our immediate concern. When we learn more, we will let you know. ” About the same time, the Times’ Twitter feed said, “If you received an e-mail today about canceling your NYT subscription, ignore it. It’s not from us.” But it was from the paper. The Times’ story changed drastically by 3:29 when the paper’s media reporter Amy Chozik tweeted, “The e-mail was sent by the NYT, a spokeswoman said. Should’ve gone to approx 300 & went to over 8 mil.” That message was passed on to reporters at 3:47 in an e-mail that retracted the earlier spam claim and admitted the Times was the source of the e-mail flood.

The Times says it will not honor the 50% discount offer that was intended for only 300 customers. And of course, there's already a parody Twitter account.