A correction in a
newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
consists of posting a public notice about a
typographical error
A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called a misprint, is a mistake (such as a spelling or transposition error) made in the typing of printed or electronic material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual typesettin ...
or factual mistake in a previously published article.
Newspapers usually have specific policies for readers to report factual errors. Generally, this requires the reader to contact an editor, pointing out the mistake and providing the correct information. Sometimes, an editor or affected reporter will be asked to refer to a note or press release to determine how the mistake was made.
In print newspapers, a correction notice will often appear in its own column in a subsequent issue.
In online news media, a "trashline" or "advisory line" may be added to the top of a corrected article.
[ (direct link to PDF fil]
According to the Reuters Handbook of Journalism, "the trashline should say exactly why a story is being withdrawn, corrected, refiled or repeated. All trashlines on refiles and corrections must include the word 'corrects' or 'correcting'."
A correction differs from a clarification, which clears up a statement that – while factually correct – may result in a misunderstanding or an unfair assumption.
Examples
Most newspaper errors are relatively minor, but even mere typos or
Typographical error#Atomic typos, atomic typos can adversely affect a story, such as:
* Names – Names misspelled, someone was misidentified (e.g., in a photograph), their professional title was incorrect.
* Numbers – e.g., "the lawsuit was for $8 million, not $8 billion".
* Time/date/place – e.g., "the event will be on Friday, not Saturday".
However, some corrections are the result of major mistakes or carelessness in reporting, and in extreme examples involve such things as completely incorrect facts, gross
misquotes and extreme misrepresentations. Following are some examples:
From ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 2004:
From the ''
New York Daily News
The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
'', 2009:
In 2003, ''The New York Times'' published an article containing factual errors and misquotes contained in articles written by
Jayson Blair
Jayson Thomas Blair (born March 23, 1976) is a former American journalist who worked for ''The New York Times''. In May 2003, he resigned from the newspaper following the revelation of fabrication and plagiarism within his articles.
In 2004, h ...
, the reporter who became the central figure in the newspaper's
plagiarism
Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...
scandal earlier in the year. The corrections affected 10 articles that had been published from 2000 to 2003, with the errors reported to the newspaper after the scandal broke.
["Corrections to Articles by Jayson Blair," ''The New York Times'', June 11, 2003. Accessed 09-07-2012]
/ref>
One 2007 study suggested that "fewer than 2 percent of factually flawed articles" in daily newspapers are actually followed by a correction.
See also
* Erratum
An erratum or corrigendum (: errata, corrigenda) (comes from ) is a correction of a published text. Generally, publishers issue an erratum for a production error (i.e., an error introduced during the publishing process) and a corrigendum for an a ...
: correction in publications and industrial specifications.
* Hamilton Naki
Hamilton Naki (26 June 1926 – 29 May 2005) was a South African laboratory assistant known for his contributions to surgical research and medical training despite having no formal medical training. He worked with cardiac surgeon Christiaan ...
: an incident of delayed corrections.
* Journalism ethics and standards
Journalistic ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and good practice applicable to journalists. This subset of media ethics is known as journalism's professional " code of ethics" and the "canons of journalism". The basic codes and ...
* Retractions in academic publishing
In academic publishing, a retraction is a mechanism by which a published paper in an academic journal is flagged for being seriously flawed to the extent that their results and conclusions can no longer be relied upon. Retracted articles are not ...
References
Further reading
* Amster, Linda, and Dylan Loeb McClain. ''Kill duck before serving: red faces at The New York Times: a collection of the newspaper's most interesting, embarrassing, and off-beat corrections''. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2002. .
* Silverman, Craig. ''Regret the error: how media mistakes pollute the press and imperil free speech''. New York: Union Square Press, 2007. .
External links
* Kinsley, Michael
The shaky war on errorism.
Washington Post, 4 September 2009.
* Lo Dico, Joy
The Independent, 23 March 2008.
* Lyall, Sarah
Confession as strength at a British newspaper.
New York Times, 16 February 1998.
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Newspaper content
Error