December 12, 2008 – 8:00 am
We said former New Jersey Gov. William Cahill was “convicted of a crime.” Although Cahill’s campaign manager, his appointed state treasurer and his appointed secretary of state were convicted of corruption charges, Cahill was never charged, let alone convicted, of any crimes. Link
December 9, 2008 – 8:00 am
In some versions of this interview, we said N.Y. Giants player Plaxico Burress had shot himself with a “40-millimeter Glock.” We should have said .40-caliber. Link
*Correction: This headline originally read “Clarly” rather than “Clearly.”
December 2, 2008 – 8:00 am
We incorrectly referred to “former Sen. Chuck Hagel.” Hagel is still in the Senate. Link
November 10, 2008 – 8:00 am
BBC issued an on air apology on Radio 2 Saturday morning in order to try and make amends for the Russel Brand/Jonathan Ross scandal. Below is the text of the apology. (A slightly different version that didn’t mention Mr. Sachs’ wife and family was broadcast prior to this altered version.)
On 18 October, the BBC broadcast [...]
November 7, 2008 – 8:00 am
We incorrectly identified the title of two books by author Mitch Albom as Afternoons with Morrie and The Five People You Most Want to Meet in Heaven. They are actually called Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Link
October 28, 2008 – 8:00 am
In some versions of this story, we incorrectly described New Mexico as “the swing state next to Nevada.” New Mexico and Nevada are not contiguous. Link
October 28, 2008 – 8:00 am
We incorrectly described Baron Hill as “a local attorney” in southeastern Indiana. In fact, Hill has never been a lawyer. Link
October 27, 2008 – 8:00 am
Some versions of this story incorrectly said Daniel Day-Lewis acted in the movie The Scarlet Letter. The film actually starred Gary Oldman. Link
October 21, 2008 – 8:00 am
As told by the Guardian’s amusing Media Monkey:
The history of radio is littered with presenters announcing that people had died, when they hadn’t. Sometimes it’s accidental - Bob Geldof on a former incarnation of London’s Xfm sombrely intoned that Ian Dury had died, years before the veteran rocker actually passed away. Sometimes it’s for a [...]
October 8, 2008 – 8:00 am
In the story, we described William Ayers as “a member of the radical Weather Underground responsible for deadly bombings in the 1960s.” In fact, no one was killed or injured in any of the bombings that the group claimed responsibility for, and most of their activities, including bombings, were conducted in the 1970s. Link
September 23, 2008 – 8:00 am
In describing the plot of the musical The Rothschilds, the story referred to “Germany’s Prince Metternich.” Prince Metternich was an Austrian statesman and diplomat; Germany wasn’t a nation until 1871. Link
And:
Some versions of this story incorrectly referred to Heineken as a German beer. Heineken is produced in the Netherlands. Link
August 21, 2008 – 8:00 am
The audio version of this story described the City Hall in Elgin, Ore., as “makeshift” and “portable.” It is actually a permanent building constructed to house city offices. Link
August 14, 2008 – 8:00 am
In this interview, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is described as an assassin and as head of “one of the most gruesome execution factories that’s ever gone in record.” While many details of the Iranian president’s background remain unclear, the available evidence does not support those allegations. Link
The story says that “nearly all workers” pay into an unemployment fund. In fact, unemployment insurance is funded by employers. Link
The introduction to this story says the 2001 anthrax attacks “shut down the U.S. postal system.” Some post offices were closed by the attacks, but mail continued to be delivered. Link
In some broadcasts, we said [...]
Some versions of this story incorrectly said: “One out of every two Black Americans is infected with HIV, according to a new report from the Black Aids Institute.” In fact, as the story now says, “One in two persons newly infected with HIV in the U.S. is African-American … ” Link
As you’re no doubt aware, a photograph purporting to show the successful test firing of four missiles by Iran was revealed to have been manipulated. In fact, only three missiles were successfully fired. The image, provided by the Iranian government, was distributed by Agence-France Presse and used by many media outlets. You can view some [...]
The audio for this story incorrectly describes House speaker Nancy Pelosi as “a chief backer of the war funding.” In fact, Speaker Pelosi voted against the Iraq war spending bill. Link
In the broadcast version of this story, we stated, “The Apollo 10 astronauts even named their command module ‘Charlie Brown,’ and the lunar rover ‘Snoopy.’ It may be telling that Charlie got to orbit the moon, but Snoopy landed there, while Charlie just circled in darkness.” The modules were named “Charlie Brown” and “Snoopy,” but [...]
In this story, a voter suggests that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has made anti-gay comments. NPR has not been able to find any evidence that Wright made such comments. Wright has supported the ordination of gay clergy. He also started a singles group for gay and lesbian members at his church. Our story should have [...]
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 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. We will apologize on air in the 9:30 a.m. ET newscast on Monday, Feb. 18, for allowing [...]
January 18, 2008 – 8:00 am
In the broadcast version of this commentary, Daniel Schorr referred to a human rights activist having trouble delivering a petition to the American Embassy in the United Arab Emirates. According to The Washington Post, which reported the story, the incident occurred in Bahrain, not the United Arab Emirates. Link
December 4, 2007 – 8:00 am
From Slapshot, the New York Times’ new hockey blog (post):
The Toronto radio reporter who caused a stir by claiming that Rangers forward Sean Avery had made derogatory comments about Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake’s recent cancer diagnosis before a game last month, retracted his report in a broadcast Monday.
Howard Berger, a reporter for FAN 590, [...]
November 12, 2007 – 8:00 am
Early versions of the radio story mistakenly identified the former FBI director. His name is J. Edgar Hoover. Link
November 6, 2007 – 8:00 am
On a Nov. 1 ESPN Radio SportsCenter Express report at 7:30 p.m. ET, a report saying Martina Hingis had tested positive for cocaine did not include her assertion that the test results were incorrect. This information was included in subsequent reports. Link
