Two days after Lee Morgan’s historical marker was unveiled, The Philadelphia Inquirer published this false and defamatory headline.

Writing for The Inquirer, Shaun Brady dug up fake news that Lee Morgan’s gravesite had “vanished” and a white fan “unearthed” it. Brady did not interview Lee’s family members. In an email, his editor, Bedatri Choudhury, wrote, “In retrospect, he should’ve spoken to Mr. Morgan’s family.”

A headline captures the main point of a story. With nine of the 17 paragraphs devoted to a white man who has no connection with the Morgan family, the “White Savior” was the main point of the story, not the celebration of Black Excellence.

The headline is both false and wrong. The “city” did not honor Lee with a historical marker. The program is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical Museum and Commission, a state agency.

Lee is interred alongside his father, Otto Morgan. There was a reckless disregard of whether the claim was false. After I complained that Brady’s “different angle” damaged the reputation of identifiable family members, the headline was changed.

The Inquirer also retracted the false claim: “This story has been updated to clarify that the grave of Lee Morgan was never lost, but simply covered over.”

The retraction begs the question: If Lee’s gravesite was never lost, what was the point of Brady’s story? Lee Morgan played second fiddle to a random white man.

The headline was changed but the damage to family members’ reputation has already been done. The body of the story will live forever on the Internet.

I want The Inquirer‘s journalistic negligence to become a case study about the importance of fact-checking and editing.