Business mag physically removes page containing error
Romenesko spotted a remarkable story in today’s Toronto Star. The paper reports that Financial Post Magazine, the glossy business mag published by the National Post newspaper, took the extraordinary step of removing a page from each copy of its latest issue in order to avoid publishing an error. From the Star’s story:
Readers of the Financial Post Magazine were left scratching their heads yesterday after they discovered that a story about Dominic D’Alessandro, chief executive of Manulife Financial Corp., had been mysteriously torn out of the publication.
The story – titled “Bang for the Buck. Dominic D’Alessandro’s options and reputation at risk” – is listed in the index of the April 2009 edition. The D’Alessandro yarn was to appear on page 16. Trouble is, readers found only the ripped remnants of that page in the publication’s stapled fold.
A source familiar with the situation said officials at Manulife complained to the Post after spotting an online version of the story prior to the magazine’s distribution.
The story reportedly contained a “serious error” about Manulife and the Post volunteered to physically remove the page from every copy to appease the financial services giant. The error was egregious enough that a standard correction was not sufficient, the source said.
It’s kind of unbelievable that the magazine would go to the lengths of having staffers tear out a page from tens of thousands of copies and not make any effort to inform readers about their decision. Were they hoping that people wouldn’t notice the missing page? Will the magazine publish an editor’s note in its next issue to explain the situation? The Star story reports that the top two editors at the magazine didn’t respond to phone calls. Let’s hope they realize the improtance importance* of explaining their decision to readers and put something on their blog soon.
*Correction made April 21. Thanks, Shannon!
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