Regret the Error

Written and Compiled by Craig Silverman

Gather ’round for our annual collection of the funny, shocking, sad and disturbing media errors and corrections from the past year. From typos that celebrate Queen Elizabeth and her remarkable egg-laying abilities, to media hoaxes, unreliable sources, the Sago disaster and apologies for mistakes nearly 120 years ago, it was a good year for Regret. Though not a banner one for our media brethren.
We dubbed 2005 the Year of Consequences. This latest was the Year of the Belated Apology. Read on for the details and, in our vernacular, The Crunks.
We would also like to present an Award of Demerit to the Sun newspaper in the U.K. This site simply wouldn’t be possible without you. (See below.)
Thanks for visiting, for sending in corrections, and for all those who link to Regret.

The Crunks ’06

Remarkable Trend of the Year: Belated Apologies
If you subscribe to the oft-ridiculed journalistic notion that three of anything officially constitutes a trend, then this was indeed the Year of the Belated Apology. We trace its popularity back to 2004’s Correction of the Year from the Lexington-Herald-Leader:

It has come to the editor’s attention that the Herald-Leader neglected to cover the civil rights movement. We regret the omission.

At the time, we called it, “Simple, elegant, brave. Better late than never.”
It appears as though some newspapers took the example to heart. Three U.S. publications ran long delayed corrections/apologies this year with the longest coming almost 120 years after the fact. Like the Herald-Leader’s offering, they dealt with issues of racism in the papers’ past.
In May, the Tallahassee Democrat ran a special section about the 1956 Tallahassee bus boycott. Included in the package was an article headlined, “Fifty years in coming: Our apology.” It read, in part:

…Leaders in that journey toward equality should have been able to expect support in ending segregation from the local daily newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat. They could not. We not only did not lend a hand, we openly opposed integration, siding firmly with the segregationists.
It is inconceivable that a newspaper, an institution that exists freely only because of the Bill of Rights, could be so wrong on civil rights. But we were.
While the Democrat today is a far different organization from what it was 50 years ago, we have never formally apologized for our actions. Nothing will change history, certainly not a few words. But words are a powerful tool and can have a lasting and healing impact…

Then, in November, the Raleigh News & Observer and Charlotte Observer produced special reporting packages about race riots that erupted in 1898. Both papers ran editorials that apologized for their part in the awful events of that year. From the Charlotte Observer’s apology:

An apology is inadequate to atone for the Observer’s role in promoting the white supremacist campaign. But an apology is due. As Mr. Faulkner observed, the past is not dead. For much of the 20th century black citizens were denied political rights, adequate education and economic opportunity because of their race. The legacy of that era helped shape North Carolina for decades. Only in recent years has our state begun to reap the benefits of talented blacks’ full participation in its economic, cultural and political life.
We apologize to the black citizens and their descendants whose rights and interests we disregarded, and to all North Carolinians, whose trust we betrayed by our failure to fairly report the news and to stand firmly against injustice.

A powerful reminder that our present actions – and inaction – could be creating the apologies of the future.

Correction of the Year
We have to admit it was a tough choice this year. Last year’s winner was a classic example of a typo gone horribly wrong. This year, we are going to recognize a correction that won largely on the strength of one part of one sentence: “…no revellers dived into bedrooms in search of drunken romps…” Okaaay. It makes reading the offending article all the more necessary. And because it’s from the Sun (U.K.), you know you’re in for something outrageous. Not that we seek to celebrate this kind of totally false reporting. In fact, we give this award in an effort to give media everywhere pause the next time they hear about a scandalous birthday party involving teenage guests passing out, vomiting and diving into bedrooms in search of drunken romps. Heck, we’ve all taken that call before.
From the Sun (U.K.):

Following our article on Princess Eugenie’s birthday celebrations, we have been asked to point out the party was closely monitored by adults throughout and while a small amount of mess was cleared away at the end of the evening, there was no damage to furniture, no revellers dived into bedrooms in search of drunken romps and to describe the house as being trashed was incorrect. We are happy to make this clear and regret any distress our report caused. Link

An excerpt from the offending story:

ASTONISHED witnesses told last night how Princess Eugenie’s 16th birthday party descended into a drunken rave – with teenage guests snogging, boozing and being sick.
Fifty youngsters had flocked to the Hooray Henry bash at the Duchess of York’s Pounds 10 million mansion.
But rather than sitting down to a meal prepared by caterers, some began knocking back champagne, spirits and strong lager they had secretly smuggled in – and quickly became legless.
…The witness told how randy guests dived into BEDROOMS in search of drunken romps.
Others PASSED out because they were so drunk, while several VOMITED inside the property.
And rooms were TRASHED, with carpets stained and cigarettes stubbed out on furniture as the March 18 party continued into the early hours, to the strains of a blaring disco.

Runner Up
From the Wilmington, Delaware News Journal:

An article in Sunday’s Local section on the estate sale of former Gov. Elbert Carvel quoted Olin Vanaman of Wilmington about his excitement in purchasing 35 of the governor’s decanters during the auction, including one used at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. Vanaman said he used a slang term when describing Carvel as “a big boozer,” but he did not mean that the former governor was a heavy drinker. Vanaman refers to people who collect decanters as “boozers,” he explained, “the same as guys who collect cars are gear-heads.” No reference to drinking or the consumption of alcohol was intended in the article. Link

Other Favorites
From the Chicago Tribune:

An editorial in Friday’s paper incorrectly stated that Florida Cresswell, a candidate for state representative in the 28th District, was convicted in 1999 of battery and stealing Tupperware. In fact he was convicted of stealing a battery from a van as well as Tupperware that was inside the van. Link

From The New York Times:

A film review on Wednesday about “Little Miss Sunshine” referred incorrectly to contestants in the fictional children’s beauty pageant of the title. The critic intended to compare the contestants to underage prostitutes, not to “underage fleshpots.” Link

From The Oregonian:

A headline on Page One on Saturday should have made clear that Oregon Health & Science University will be studying the effects of meth, not cooking it. Link

The headline in question? “State’s latest meth cook: OHSU”

From the Los Angeles Times:

A listing in Sunday Calendar said hot dogs would not be allowed at the Scandinavian Autumn Fest and Marknad on Sept. 17 at Vasa Park in Agoura. No canines will be allowed at the event. Link

Apology of the Year
From (who else?) the Sun (U.K.):

On 13 February we published an article headed “Who bum it?” reporting that two Premiership footballers and a music industry figure had a “gay romp” in which a mobile phone was used as a “gay sex toy”. On 16 February we published a picture of Mr Cole and his fiancee headed ‘Ashley’s got a good taste in rings’.
Some readers have understood that Mr Cole was one of the two Premiership players involved in the gay sex and that Choice FM DJ, Masterstepz, was the music industry figure.
We are happy to make clear that Mr Cole and Masterstepz were not involved in any such activities. We apologise to them for any distress caused and we are paying them each a sum by way of damages. The Sun wishes Ashley all the best for next Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final. Link

Runner Up
From the Mirror (U.K.)

Following the publication of an interview with Glenda Gilson on 11 September 2006, Ms Gilson contacted us to state that the words published on the front page: ‘I haven’t had sex for four months’ were not words used by her.
While we accept that these precise words were not used by Ms Gilson we believe that they conveyed the sense of what was said in part of the article published on pages eight and nine to which the readers’ attention was expressly drawn.
We acknowledge that Glenda Gilson was offended by the words in question and we wish to express our regret for any offence caused to her and her family. Link

One More
From the Sun (U.K.):

AN item on 2 August last year “Telly Teri’s Romps in Van” stated that actress Teri Hatcher had sex romps in her VW camper van at her home.
Although published in good faith, we now accept that the article was totally incorrect and we apologise to Ms Hatcher for the embarrassment caused. Link

Error of the Year: We Have a Tie
Winner the First: In mid May, Canada’s National Post thought it had a huge scoop thanks to information from an Iranian writer, namely that a recently-passed law in Iran could require non-Muslims to wear special identification badges on their clothing.
The paper splashed the story, “Iran Eyes Badges For Jews,” across six columns on its May 19 front page and capped it off with a huge photo of Hungarian Jews sporting yellow stars during WWII. The story was wrong, totally wrong.
The Post ran an article detailing some of the questions about the story the next day, but it had already been picked up in North America, Europe and beyond. Then, finally, on May 24 the paper ran a Page 2 note from its editor headlined, “Our mistake: Note to readers.” It read, in part:

…We acknowledge that on this story, we did not exercise sufficient caution and skepticism, and we did not check with enough sources. We should have pushed the sources we did have for more corroboration of the information they were giving us. That is not to say that we ignored basic journalistic practices or that we rushed this story into print with no thought as to the consequences. But given the seriousness of the allegations, more was required. Background

Winner the Second: The tale is well known, so we’ll offer one word: Sago. We considered demoting this error to second place, due in large part to the culpability of the mining company. As news of “12 Alive!” spread over the wire and airwaves, the company kept silent and didn’t do its part to reveal the correct information. The media, of course, deserves its fair share of blame for turning rumor into fact, but the company had the means to temper the story right away and instead remained silent. So a pox on both houses. Sago will live on as a tragic event made all the more tragic by incorrect reports that spread the world over. That’s a rare phenomenon, so it also earns Error of the Year honors. Background

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