Category Archives: Radio

Very fuzzy numbers etc.

August 5, 2008 – 8:00 am

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

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The Iran photo manipulation corrections

July 14, 2008 – 8:00 am

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 [...]

By Craig Silverman | Also posted in Fabrication, Government, Major Errors, Newspapers, Wire service | Tagged , , , , | Comments

Opposites retract

July 1, 2008 – 8:00 am

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

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Snoopy and Charlie Brown (don’t) land on the moon

May 19, 2008 – 8:00 am

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 [...]

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UPDATED: Wrong about Rev. Wright

April 1, 2008 – 8:00 am

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 [...]

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More on NPR’s “dark continent” apology

March 3, 2008 – 8:00 am

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. [...]

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NPR apologizes for calling Africa the “dark contintent”

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 [...]

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Lessons in geography etc.

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

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Radio reporter retracts claim about hockey player

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, [...]

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Hoover who?

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

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Denial denied

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

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Wait wait, we’re sorry

May 17, 2007 – 8:00 am
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A few folks on hand

March 6, 2007 – 8:00 am
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ESPN unveils cross-platform correction policy and procedures

March 5, 2007 – 10:10 am

One of the most enjoyable correction-related experiences comes at the end of every episode of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, a sports talk and interview show featuring Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser.
As ESPN explains, at the end of every show, “researcher Tony Reali corrects any statistical fouls Kornheiser and Wilbon made in the heat of battle.” [...]

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Aussie radio station apologizes for broadcasting false rumor

September 18, 2006 – 8:00 am
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Quiet — or else!

September 4, 2006 – 8:00 am
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Those elusive broadcast corrections

March 29, 2006 – 8:01 am
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Station fires host after he, um, praises Condoleezza Rice

March 24, 2006 – 8:00 am

Excerpt from an AP story:
A St. Louis radio station quickly fired a talk show host for uttering a racial epithet as he talked about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on his morning show Wednesday.
Dave Lenihan apologized on the air immediately after making what he said was a slip of the tongue. KTRS president and general [...]

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False tsunami warning sent to Alaskan media

February 7, 2006 – 8:00 am
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Media hoaxed by fake Ryan Seacrest interview

February 6, 2006 – 8:00 am

On Thursday the Trentonian newspaper reported about a New Jersey radio DJ who had a heated exchange with Ryan Seacrest about whether or not he was gay. From the story:
“Ryan,” Carton said, “Are you gay?”
Silence.
“Ryan, are you a homosexual?”
With that, Seacrest was headed for the door.
“I can’t stay here, man,” Seacrest said. “I gotta jet.”
The [...]

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Former NPR reporter sues NPR and MoMA over “false correction”

January 18, 2006 – 8:00 am
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The media and the miners

January 4, 2006 – 11:47 am

By now it’s common knowledge that a terrible, tragic mistake was made in the reporting of 13 miners trapped in a West Virginia coal mine. For a few hours the world believed that all but one of the men had made it out alive. Because of production deadlines, many papers reported this on their front [...]

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Of lies and lawyers

October 7, 2005 – 8:00 am
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Networks argue over false death report

September 9, 2005 – 12:00 am
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Failure of evolution theory exposed!

May 17, 2005 – 8:00 am
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