In a June 7 “XX Factor” post, Hanna Rosin mistakenly wrote that 50 women have orbited “space.” She meant to write “Earth.” Link
I’m a bit late to this one, but this hoax was picked up by a decent number of publications. Murray Dick has a good summary:
The story in question (now amended, here) concerned the conviction of a 13-year old Texan boy for stealing his dad’s credit card and using it to hire two prostitutes with which [...]
From a blog post by Edmonton Journal columnist Todd Babiak:
I have written for the Journal since 2001. In that time, I have only caused three “corrections” — the dreaded sentence on the second page of the newspaper that describes an error on the part of the writer. Three times too many.
Steve Glassman, executive producer [...]
Msnbc.com’s Courtney Hazlett issued the following statement June 6: “Today on MSNBC TV’s ‘Morning Joe,’ I chose my words poorly in describing the relationship between Clint Eastwood and Spike Lee. I take my responsibilities as a journalist seriously and know that words can have a strong impact. I sincerely apologize to Spike Lee and to [...]
In the June 2 “Family,” David Plotz and Hanna Rosin described a Buddhist couple as claustrophobes. They meant to use the term claustrophiles. Link
A story published on May 27 about a number of fights at English Bay Park in Vancouver’s West End said the biggest fight involved 100 people and took place on Sunday. In fact, it happened late Saturday night and involved about 60 people. Link
A “Jurisprudence” and a “Convictions” blog post, both published May 13, featured a photograph of a man identified as Mohammed al-Qahtani. The man pictured was indeed named Mohammed al-Qahtani, but he was not the same man discussed in the article and blog post. The photograph has been removed. Link
In the May 12 “Books,” Dahlia Lithwick identified the USS Enterprise’s science officer as Dr. Spock. He is Mr. Spock. Link
In the May 6 “Medical Examiner,” Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer correctly stated that the radio show The Infinite Mind runs on NPR. Slate, however, posted a correction stating that this fact was wrong. We now understand from NPR’s ombudsman, Alicia Shepherd, that NPR has a contractual relationship with The Infinite Mind to run the [...]
In an April 24 story on ESPN.com about NFL draft prospect Marcus Dixon, a scouting breakdown provided by ESPN’s Scouts Inc., erroneously reported that Dixon had been charged with criminal damage and disorderly conduct in August of 2007. Dixon was not involved in any such an incident and was never charged with those crimes. Link
From journalism.co.uk:
The sourcing and fact checking process for stories on the BBC News website must be addressed by management, the BBC trust Editorial Standards Committee has recommended.
The committee made the suggestions as part of its response to a complaint about an article on the site, which pointed to inaccuracies in the report on Congressman Joseph [...]
In an April 8 “DVD Extras,” Mark Harris noted that in addition to being racist and sexist, gangster movies of the 1930s were also homophobic. Harris cited as evidence a line from the James Cagney picture Lady Killer, in which cops threaten Cagney by saying, “We’ll run you in as a fag, and that’ll mean [...]
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation airs a wonderful show called Media Watch. It operates with the slogan, “Everyone loves it until they’re on it.” Why, that’s good enough to steal for this site. But that would be unwise because Media Watch is very good at exposing plagiarists.
In early March, it aired a scathing seven minute report [...]
In the article “Is Briana Waters a terrorist?,” published Mar. 27, the subhead stated that “U.S. attorneys exploited post-9/11 counterterrorism laws to pursue and prosecute an environmental activist.” In fact, while tougher post-9/11 policies on eco-terror played a role in the Waters case, no new laws were used in her prosecution.
Upon review, we [...]
Due to an editing error, Cary Tennis’ Since You Asked column from March 26 contained a letter from a reader who had not authorized it to be published. The column has been removed from the site. Salon regrets the error. Link
The March 21 article “The Funny Thing About Black Men in Dresses” incorrectly identified the actress who played Virginiaca’s stepdaughter in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch as Natalie Portman. The role was played by Ellen Page. The article has been corrected. Link
A March 14 story about spring break incorrectly stated that Fort Lauderdale had 7.8 billion visitors in 2001. The correct figure was 7.8 million. Link
A story published March 13 about the fallout after Geraldine Ferraro said Barack Obama’s success was due to his colour quoted Hillary Clinton as saying Ferraro’s comments were “ridiculous” and “wrong-headed.” In fact, Obama described Ferraro’s remarks that way. Link
In the March 14 story “The Rise of the Superclass,” a sentence has been clarified. The line now reads: “Yet, to be fair, people are among the things that Rothkopf has to offer his clients, specifically his knowledge of and acquaintances among the very superclass he celebrates and scolds.” Link
The website of German newspaper Der Spiegel recently issued a retraction for an article that claimed IKEA had a habit of naming inexpensive items after Danish towns. (High end items were named after Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian towns.) As the retraction explains, the story was based on a report in a Danish newspaper that turned [...]
Jack Shafer brings word of another incident of plagiarism at the New York Times:
New York Times Standards Editor Craig Whitney apologized to Manhattan Media this afternoon after today’s (March 11) Times lifted from a Manhattan Media story published on the Web and e-mailed to a media list yesterday.
The lift, taken from Manhattan Media’s City [...]
Over the past couple of weeks, Regret readers have been debating the necessity of this NPR apology:
In our newscast at 9:30 a.m. ET on Feb. 14, the phrase “dark continent” was used by one of our newscasters in reference to President Bush’s trip to Africa. This was totally inappropriate and offensive, and we apologize. [...]
February 18, 2008 – 8:00 am
In the Feb. 13 “Human Nature,” William Saletan said that research in mice indicated that the embryoblast-trophoblast distinction began at the two-cell stage. As evidence, the article linked to a 2006 paper in Science. That paper has since been retracted due to “falsified or fabricated images” by one co-author. However, according to subsequent communication with [...]
February 8, 2008 – 8:00 am
The story was corrected, but the headline’s a bit of a problem. Thanks, Jeff!
February 3, 2008 – 8:00 am
In the Jan. 29 “Other Magazines,” Noreen Malone incorrectly stated that the total amount spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts was $5 billion. The actual figure is $500 billion. Link
