Correcting the MLK Memorial

Editorial pages have not lost all their influence in the age of declining newspapers. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told The Washington Post on Friday that he will take the paper up on its demand for a redo on the inscription to the Martin Luther King memorial that was dedicated on the Washington mall last fall.

The monument's planners had truncated a famous King quote to say simply, "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness," which to many sounded boastful. The full King quote, as the Post editorial page and other critics had noted, had actually begun more modestly, saying, "If you want to say I was a drum major, say I was..."

On Friday, the Post reported that Salazar has given the National Park Service 30 days to work with King authorities to come up with a revised inscription.