October 23, 2009 – 3:02 pm
Today’s edition of my weekly column in Columbia Journalism Review looks at the issue of speed versus accuracy in journalism. I hope you’ll take a moment and read it, as it relates to this post. Think of the column and post as branches on the same tree.
My column looks at the issue in terms of [...]
September 18, 2009 – 8:00 am
In case you hadn’t noticed, I recently added a “What I’m Reading” sidebar to the site. It’s over there to the right. I link to relevant articles that I find interesting or of note. And now, every once in a while, I’ll post a round-up of some of those links to make sure you don’t [...]
September 14, 2009 – 8:00 am
Dan Gillmor wrote an interesting post entitled Eleven Things I’d Do If I Ran a News Organization, and I’m a fan of number four:
4. We would create a service to notify online readers, should they choose to sign up for it, of errors we’ve learned about in our journalism. Users of this service could choose [...]
August 13, 2009 – 11:55 am
Please excuse this brief interruption from regular programming.
I’m pleased to announce that I will be joining PBS MediaShift as an associate editor. I’m very excited to work with Mark Glaser, his team, and the site’s many contributors. In addition to working with contributors on their articles, I’ll be writing a monthly feature for MediaShift. I’ll [...]
August 2, 2009 – 12:35 pm
New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt has weighed in on the paper’s recent, error-riddled story about Walter Cronkite. The story, written by television critic Alessandra Stanley, resulted in two corrections, one of which was for seven mistakes. I wrote about the mistakes, and Stanley’s history of error, in a recent column for Columbia Journalism [...]
The Washington Times made an embarrassing mistake on its website last week. This picture pretty much speaks for itself:
Yes, those are the Obama kids. No, they weren’t involved in the story.
After being spotted by one blog, the image quickly spread. Some people said it was an example of the Times’ right-wing bias. The Times spoke [...]
This week’s Regret the Error column on Columbia Journalism Review online looks at two media errors that became fodder for late night comedy. Excerpt below. Click on the headline for the full column.
Comedy of Errors
Jay Leno has made amusing, mistaken, and otherwise notable newspaper headlines a staple of his show. Recently, his rivals got into [...]
March 13, 2009 – 12:48 pm
My CJR online column for this week uses a very delayed correction from the New York Times to examine the paper’s policy for correcting its archives. An excerpt is below. Click the headline for the full text.
Everything Old Is New Again
During The New York Times’s 4 p.m. news meeting on Tuesday, a gathering that draws [...]
My Columbia Journalism Review online column for this week looks at unreliable sources. An excerpt is below; click on the headline to read the full column.
Sources of Error
He spoke with a polished English accent, once shared a crème brûlée torte with Hillary Clinton, and spent part of the summer officiating tennis at the 2008 Beijing [...]
February 27, 2009 – 5:54 pm
This week’s edition of my Columbia Journalism Review online column looks at the mistakes that media outlets make when they report about themselves. An excerpt is below. Click on the headline to read the full column.
Close to Home
One strict rule in the medical profession holds that no doctors can treat themselves or any member of [...]
February 20, 2009 – 5:59 pm
This week’s edition of my Columbia Journalism Review column takes a historical look at the issue of accuracy. I suggest that today’s changing media landscape is just the latest in a series of major shifts to hit the profession. Excerpt below. Click on the headline to read the full column.
The News Business Is Changing. Again.
Walter [...]
February 6, 2009 – 4:35 pm
After releasing my free Regret the Error Accuracy Checklist earlier this week (download your copy here), I devoted my latest CJR online column to the subject of checklists. This column offers background on why checklists have proven useful in so many different industries and professions. I examine why they work for journalists, and why we [...]
February 4, 2009 – 12:36 pm
This week marks the release of the US paperback edition of the Regret the Error book. Order your copy here.
In addition to a lower price, the paperback includes a new introduction by me and the best corrections and apologies of 2007-08. We also corrected the errors identified in the hardcover. (Read and subscribe to my [...]
December 23, 2008 – 2:01 pm
This is the final Regret post for 2008. Regular posting will resume on January 5, 2009.
I’m usually so busy tracking corrections and errors that I don’t get a chance to write about the best ways to prevent and correct mistakes. With 2008 coming to a close, it’s a perfect time to list some of the [...]
December 21, 2008 – 5:09 pm
On Friday, Columbia Journalism Review online published my latest weekly column. Read it here. I also wrote a Saturday op-ed for the Toronto Star about the year in errors and corrections. Below are excerpts from both pieces.
CJR column:
The Year in Errata
About a month ago, I began the laborious and depressing task of scouring the archives [...]
December 18, 2008 – 8:00 am
In this year’s round-up of the Year in Media Errors and Corrections, I unveiled the Ian Mayes Award for Writing Wrongs. It is given to the “publication or person that demonstrates wit and wisdom in the writing of corrections.” The winner is David Hummerston, the, deep breath, Saturday editor, editorial counsellor and readers editor of [...]
December 16, 2008 – 8:01 am
Editor’s Note: This site doesn’t accept advertising (note: see UPDATE below). I’d be grateful if you’d consider purchasing a copy of the Regret the Error book, which won an award from the National Press Club this year. You can learn more about the book and read some reviews here. UPDATE March 2009: I’ve added some [...]
December 16, 2008 – 8:00 am
As noted in this year’s edition of the Crunks, 2008 saw an example of institutional plagiarism (the Bulletin), as well as an incident of institutional fabrication (Mainichi Daily News). Both are mentioned below, along with the rest of this year’s notable examples of plagiarism and fabrication. On the more positive side of things, this year [...]
December 12, 2008 – 12:56 pm
My weekly Columbia Journalism Review online column is live on the site. The topic: obiticide. Death by media. An excerpt:
Death by Obiticide
I have some bad news to pass along this week: two people were killed as a result of sloppy journalism.
It happens more often than you might expect. It’s frequent enough, in fact, that I’ve [...]
December 5, 2008 – 1:13 pm
This week’s edition of my Columbia Journalism Review Daily column is online here. Inspired by the example of Wales Online (background), I look at the issue of scrubbing. Here’s the opening of the column:
Scrubbing Away Their Sins
We used to be able to throw out the news; to disappear it.
The morning paper would find its way [...]
December 2, 2008 – 11:57 am
I’m a bit late announcing this, but I’ve started writing a weekly column for Columbia Journalism Review’s website. It’s called “Regret the Error” and runs every Friday on CJR.org. I’ve written eight columns so far, and you can read them all here.
This column is a chance for me to provide some context for notable corrections [...]
November 3, 2008 – 11:46 am
This year’s U.S. Presidential election election marks the 60th anniversary of the “Dewey Defeats Truman” edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune. Since that headline was first published, it has become perhaps the most famous press error of all time. This is the story of how and why it happened, and what we can learn from [...]
September 23, 2008 – 8:00 am
A passage from Jesse Froehling’s story (spotted by Romenesko) in the Sept. 17 edition of Seattle Weekly brought back memories:
Mark Powell finds mistakes everywhere he looks. National monuments, scholarly texts, museums, The Washington Post, The New York Times: All have drawn the attention of Powell’s rabid, error-spotting eye. Powell will leave you seven-minute voicemails about [...]
A few hours before I received my award from the National Press Club in Washington, I paid a visit to the Newseum. It’s housed in a lovely new building, but I mostly cared about the bathrooms.
As was the case at its old location, the Newseum bathroom walls are covered in corrections, errors and other press [...]
The Torontoist blog has an interesting story about a man, a would-be burglar, and a series of remarkable photos. Plus, a little bit of copyright infringement.
In July of last year, Joel Charlebois, a Toronto resident, caught a man trying to break into his home. While trying to escape, the man fell from a second floor [...]
