November 19, 2009 – 8:00 am
In a Nov. 17 story about job cuts at Verizon Communications Inc., The Associated Press, relying on a labor union report, erroneously reported that Verizon is laying off more than 1,000 employees in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
In response to AP’s query, a Verizon spokesman on Tuesday confirmed that layoffs were occurring. On Wednesday, the [...]
November 18, 2009 – 8:00 am
In a Nov. 6 story citing examples of companies that changed their names to repair their images, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Accenture changed its name from Arthur Andersen as a result of an association with the Enron scandal. Accenture, previously known as Andersen Consulting, operated independently from Arthur Andersen, the accounting firm. Andersen [...]
November 5, 2009 – 8:00 am
Correction: An Associated Press story on the Nation page on Oct. 23 mischaracterized a motorized chair a Minnesota man was operating while drunk. Police in Proctor, Minn., where the recliner will be auctioned, said the brand is not La-Z-Boy. Link
October 19, 2009 – 8:00 am
An Associated Press image of fall foliage amid snow in Twin Mountain, N.H., published in Thursday’s Photos of the Day had been digitally altered by the photo service. The photo has been replaced with the actual, unaltered image. Link
October 19, 2009 – 8:00 am
The Canadian Press erroneously reported Wednesday that university researchers published a paper alleging Imperial Tobacco Canada destroyed seven million pages of research that included decades worth of studies on the effects of smoking. In fact, the researchers said they looked at 60 reports that were among seven million pages of documents from British American Tobacco [...]
October 9, 2009 – 8:00 am
In an Oct. 7 story about the disappearance of an Iranian nuclear scientist, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat identified an Iranian who disappeared in Georgia as a second nuclear scientist. Asharq Al-Awsat said the man was believed to be an arms dealer. Link
Thanks, Justin!
October 5, 2009 – 8:00 am
In an Oct. 1 story about the world’s biggest wind farm opening, The Associated Press incorrectly quoted Patrick Woodson, an officer for E.ON Climate and Renewables North America. He said, “This is truly a significant milestone for us,” not “This is truly sign milestone for us.” Link
September 30, 2009 – 8:00 am
An unfortunate typo from a Reuters story about a heavyweight boxing match (note the final sentence in this screengrab):
Reuters’ Good, Bad and Ugly blog made note of this.
September 25, 2009 – 8:00 am
In a Sept. 22 story about a postal worker pleading guilty to stealing Netflix DVDs, The Associated Press misstated the number of DVDs stolen. Myles Weathers pleaded guilty to stealing more than 3,000 DVDs, not 30,000. Link
September 23, 2009 – 8:00 am
This article about the community organizing group ACORN incorrectly said that a conservative journalist targeted the organization for hidden-camera videos partly because its voter-registration drives bring Latinos and African Americans to the polls. Although ACORN registers people mostly from those groups, the maker of the videos, James E. O’Keefe, did not specifically mention them. Link
And [...]
September 18, 2009 – 8:00 am
Note the highlighted text:
As was noted on Reuters’ Good, Bad, and Ugly blog, they meant “persistent dry cough.”
September 16, 2009 – 12:56 pm
A headline typo from AP:
Original here.
Thanks, Morgan!
September 16, 2009 – 8:00 am
An excerpt of a very detailed account from Wired:
All of Germany was bamboozled Thursday by a bizarre scheme that tricked the country’s main wire service into reporting an attempted suicide bombing in a California town — an attack supposedly perpetrated by a non-existent rap group called the “Berlin Boys.”
The hoax has transfixed this country. It [...]
September 1, 2009 – 8:00 am
In a story Aug. 27, The Associated Press reported that the family of a student who said a science teacher burned a cross on his arm settled a federal lawsuit with the school district. Their attorney, Doug Mansfield, described it as an effort by the family to move past the incident. Mansfield was quoted saying, [...]
August 25, 2009 – 10:05 am
A large Lego giraffe greets visitors at the entrance to the Legoland Discovery Center in Germany. And if you believe a Reuters report from this morning, people can’t help but steal the giraffe’s penis. The story had a bit of fun with this:
BERLIN (Reuters) – Visitors to a tourist attraction in Berlin have been making [...]
In an obituary of Walter Cronkite on Page A1 July 18, The Associated Press, relying on published accounts that included Cronkite’s memoir, reported erroneously that "cronkiter" was used in Sweden and the Netherlands as a term for "TV anchorman." Olof Hulten, a journalism educator in Sweden, and Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s Expert Desk say the term [...]
In a July 13 story, The Associated Press described Shulamit Kishak-Cohen, who helped smuggle Jews to Israel from Lebanon in the 1950s and was awarded a rare citation, as having carried on a romantic liaison with a French intelligence agent. The story should have attributed the information to a book about Kishak-Cohen, "Shula: Code Name [...]
Reuters has made its internal Handbook for Journalists available to the public via the Internet. It posted the full document online and Dean Wright, Reuters’ global editor of ethics, innovation and news standards, wrote about it yesterday. (Romenesko spotted Wright’s post.) Here’s what Wright says about the Handbook:
The handbook is the guidance Reuters journalists live [...]
In a story June 26, The Associated Press reported that frustrated fishermen are firing guns at bottlenose dolphins that have become increasingly aggressive in taking fish off hooks, and some dolphins have been wounded or killed. The story quoted Bob Zales, president of the National Association of Charter Boat Operators, as saying he heard accounts [...]
In a June 15 story about DF Indie Studios, The Associated Press reported erroneous claims by the company and founders Mary Dickinson and Charlene Fisher. In a news release and in interviews, DF Indie Studios and the founders said their movies will be produced by such Hollywood figures as Ridley and Tony Scott. Dickinson and [...]
In a May 7 story, msnbc.com published an incorrect photo of the suspect in the shooting at Wesleyan University. The photo was supplied by The Associated Press and credited to the university. The AP later notified the media that the wrong photo had been published, and the Police Department in Middletown, Conn., supplied a correct [...]
In a May 2 story about swine flu comments and the immigration debate, The Associated Press mischaracterized a comment by CNN’s Lou Dobbs. The story said Dobbs called the current epidemic “Mexican flu.” While Dobbs used that language, he was making light of those who were suggesting the name should be changed to something other [...]
In initial versions of an April 24 story about federal prosecutors seeking to compel witnesses to testify in the trial of an ex-soldier, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Sgt. Anthony Yribe had been convicted at court-martial for taking part in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. Yribe was never accused of [...]
In an April 9 story, The Associated Press reported that Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears spoke about the importance of preventing divorces. The story noted that Sears is divorced. It should have made clear that she is now remarried. Link
In an April 5 Final Four note about the Detroit Lions’ locker room, The Associated Press erroneously reported basketball teams were 0-5 after using that locker room in Ford Field. Kansas won two NCAA tournament games last year after using the Lions’ locker room.
