Last Sunday’s article ‘Kate’s crimpers go to war’ may have left the impression that Richard Ward, proprietor of the Richard Ward Hair & Metrospa salon in Chelsea, was jealous of James Pryce, a former employee, who styled the Duchess of Cambridge’s hair on the day of the Royal Wedding. The article might also have suggested [...]
Here’s a case study in how a story can spread far and wide, causing anger and frustration for the person at the heart of the tale. I became aware of it thanks to this rather vague correction in the Guardian: A Weekend magazine article about a woman who for part of her working life dresses [...]
We stated in an article on 26 September that Christmas has been renamed in various places Winterval. Winterval was the collective name for a season of public events, both religious and secular, which took place in Birmingham in 1997 and 1998. We are happy to make clear that Winterval did not rename or replace Christmas. [...]
An article on August 7 said the former MP Elliot Morley, who was jailed for his role in the MPs expenses scandal, was said to have been roughed up by a fellow prisoner, frogmarched to his cell and forced to hand over a £3,000 Rolex watch. We quoted sources at Ford Prison. In fact, Mr [...]
In our super-glossy supplement Kate: A Magical Year, we described the Duchess wearing a ‘pillarbox hat’. We should have said a ‘pillbox hat’. Link Report an error
I recently blogged the fact that the Daily Mail, a paper that has long distinguished itself by issuing remarkable apologies for highly questionable reporting, decided to introduce a regular corrections column. We’re a couple of weeks into it and, as expected, there have been some gems. It’s a positive move for the paper to standardize [...]
In a Health article on June 19, we said the prescription drug Sativex, which is derived from cannabis, does not give patients a ‘high’ because the dose is low and comprises a controlled form of the substance. In fact, a feeling of euphoria is listed as a common side effect. Link Report an error
The Daily Mail apologised in court yesterday for wrongly identifying, in a one-paragraph item in the Ephraim Hardcastle column, Lady Moore, the wife of Sir Roger Moore, as the subject of a Spectator column by Taki about a Swedish beauty who had courted rich men on the French Riviera in the 1950s. We accepted that [...]
See my previous post about the mistakes made by the Daily Mail, the Sun and others. After being criticized and mocked for publishing an online article that declared Amanda Knox had been found guilty of murder, the Daily Mail published a story to explain what happened. The paper apologized for the mistake, and also noted [...]
An article in Platell’s People on July 30 wrongly repeated a suggestion that Ms Swinson had claimed for make-up on her expenses. We are happy to make clear that she had not made such claims and apologise for suggesting otherwise. Link Thanks, Tabloid Watch! Report an error
While the world is focused on the actions of the now-defunct News of the World (and possibly other British tabloids), on Friday eight British newspapers issued apologies for outrageous, prominent and defamatory front pages and articles that falsely painted Christopher Jefferies as a murderer. The Tabloid Watch blog has an excellent overview of the issue [...]
Statements contained in an article published on 7 March, headed “Babies who are born at 23 weeks should be left to die, says NHS chief”, were wrongly attributed to Dr Daphne Austin, who is a medical consultant specialist employed by the NHS. They were made in a programme in which Dr Austin participated and were [...]
On May 15 we said Tim Henman was being paid £200,000 by the BBC for commentating at Wimbledon this year. In fact we have been informed that his fee will be substantially less than that. We apologise for the mistake and are happy to set the record straight. Link Via Tabloid Watch. Report an error
At least five British newspapers and one broadcaster used a fake photo of a dead Bin Laden in their coverage. Tabloid Watch has a gallery showing each paper, and here’s the example from the Mirror: The offending papers include the Sun, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Times of London. The broadcaster was Sky News. Here’s [...]
Further to an article about the murder of Edmond Safra, we wish to make it clear there was no intention to suggest that Mr Safra's widow Lily was involved in his death. We accept that there is no basis for such a suggestion and apologise for any distress caused. Link Report an error
OUR article of 9 October 2009 falsely alleged that throughout a 23 day hunger strike, Mr Parameswaran Subramanyam secretly ate takeaway burgers when dishonestly claiming he was on hunger strike in support of Sri Lankan Tamils, in a campaign which was policed at considerable expense and caused the police to waste public money. We now [...]
An article on May 25, 2007, ‘The Cult Guru Who Stole My Son’ made claims that William Van Gordon was a ‘brainwashed zombie’ and Edo Shonin brainwashed him and that the Buddhist retreat which they ran was a cult. We accept this is untrue. We apologise to both men for the contrary impression given. Link [...]
One U.K. television station and U.K. eight newspapers have published/aired apologies and paid damages after they falsely reported that a child’s birthday party had spun wildly out of control due to its promotion on Facebook. In reality, “only very minor damage was caused”during the party, it was never promoted on Facebook, no alcohol was served, [...]
On 2 June 2008 we published an article which referred to the art collection of Sir Anthony and Lady Chryss O Reilly. We also referred to a book commissioned by the O Reillys, containing reproductions of the items in their collection and a commentary upon them. The article wrongly suggested that Sir Anthony had misappropriated [...]
In articles published on 23 and 26 May 2008, we gave the impression that Mr Gest had contracted a sexually transmitted infection and alleged that he had Liza Minnelli’s dog killed without her knowledge. This was wrong. David Gest has never had a sexually transmitted infection and did not have Ms Minnelli’s dog killed. We [...]
In an article of 6 November 2007 about Tom Sykes, a freelance journalist, we mistakenly included a photograph of Tom Sykes a digital TV consultant and his family. We wish to make it clear that the latter is not a recovering alcoholic or drug addict, and apologise for the error. Link Originally spotted by Adrian [...]
We’ve been cataloging the apologies offered to Morien Jones by UK newspapers (read one of the apologies for some background), and now there are a few more to add to the pile. Actually, a lot more. We can’t recall another recent UK story that caused so many apologies. Read the previous apology from the Yorkshire [...]
