Regret the Error

The Web Journal of Byron "Barney" Calame, Public Editor of the New York Times, had a recent entry about corrections. Not exactly earth-shaking information, but a good basic overview of how the Times handles corrections.

Tad Weber, the managing editor of The Tribune, a paper on
California’s central coast, wrote in with questions about The Times’s
corrections policy. Many of his questions are similar to those that
have been raised by readers. His message was sent to Bill Borders, a
senior editor at the paper who oversees the corrections process. Their
exchange is provided below in a Q&A format.

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Q: The NYT repeats what was wrong in the course of saying what is right. Why does the paper do that?
A:
We repeat what was wrong only to the extent that it is necessary to the
understanding of the correction. The goal is to avoid having someone
unfamiliar with the original mistake read the correction and think,
What in the hell was THAT about?

We wish more papers did this.

Q: What are the key principles guiding corrections in the NYT?
A: See stylebook [entries below]. The key principles are to be totally honest and totally transparent. To level with the readers 100 percent.

Q:
Is the paper satisfied with how it handles corrections, or could the
process or what gets published be improved? If yes, how so?
A:
In general, it seems to work (except that there are still too many
errors). The process would be better if we got the corrections into the
paper faster, and THAT depends on faster action on the desks, once we
know or suspect that we have erred. We are constantly working to
improve this.

Q: Why does the NYT put corrections on Page A2?
A:
We want them to be in a place that is prominent and reliable — where
readers know to look for them. (Errors in weekly sections are usually
corrected in those sections, to increase the chance that a correction
will be seen by the people who saw the original error.)

Q: If there is anything else useful you think I should know, please include it.
A:
We take this responsibility very seriously, with the support from the
highest level of New York Times management. That’s not only a matter of
simple fairness, but also because corrections enhance our credibility;
everybody makes mistakes but not everybody admits it.

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