Tag Archives: daily telegraph uk

No deal

September 30, 2009 – 8:00 am

dailyteleukIn an article last week (”It’s a disgrace that the BBC is uniquely unaccountable”) it was alleged that some BBC executives negotiated deals with production companies owned by their spouses. We are happy to accept that no executives have been involved in such negotiations.

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

Apology

September 28, 2009 – 8:00 am

dailyteleukIn her review of Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton (Nov 1, 2008) Lynn Barber took issue with Dr Thornton’s assertion that she (Ms Barber) was among the 250 people who had been interviewed for the book, either face to face or by telephone. In fact, Ms Barber did have a pre-arranged telephone interview with Dr Thornton two years earlier which lasted over 30 minutes. We and Ms Barber therefore now accept that it would be wrong to suggest that Dr Thornton made a false or dishonest claim to have interviewed Ms Barber and apologise to Dr Thornton for any distress caused by any contrary impression the review may have given.
In addition, the review commented on Dr Thornton’s use of a practice known as “reflexive ethnography” which Ms Barber equated to “copy approval”. Dr Thornton points out that she did not give interviewees the right to alter any material she had written about them and that she always maintained complete editorial control of the final product and used the feedback provided by her subjects entirely as she saw fit. Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

Other way around

July 16, 2009 – 8:00 am

dailyteleukOwing to an editing error, our report “Women who dress provocatively more likely to be raped, claim scientists” (June 23) wrongly stated that research presented at the recent BPS conference by Sophia Shaw found that women who drink alcohol are more likely to be raped. In fact, the research found the opposite. We apologise for our error. Link

Update July 16, 2:45 pm: Commenter Charlene points to a Bad Science article that offers more background on the correction. As Charlene notes, "That correction doesn’t even scrape the surface of the mistakes they made."

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

John Cleese would like a correction

February 27, 2009 – 8:00 am

dailyteleukJohn Cleese was unhappy that the the Daily Telegraph (UK) misidentified his daughter in a photo. He decided to make video blog post about it. Click below to be taken to a page where you can watch it.

The caption has been fixed, though there’s no correction.

Thanks, Smylers!

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged , , | Comments

Daily Telegraph editor chastises staff for making too many errors

November 28, 2008 – 11:10 am

The Guardian’s Media Monkey blog got its hands on an all-staff email sent by Daily Telegraph associate editor Simon Heffer. He berates the staff for making too many mistakes, and for not adhering to the paper’s style guide. An excerpt:

Dear Colleagues

I have exhorted you all to read carefully what you write. I think some of you are now doing this, but not always thinking about what it is that you read. This can be the only explanation for this week’s worst horror (and, sadly, there is some competition). We ran a story in Tuesday’s paper about a farmer’s wife who died of a heart attack after a thief stole diesel from her farm. This unfortunate lady was called Mrs Dove. Her son is called Michael Dove. In the story he became Michael Gove; who happens to be the Conservative spokesman on schools. You might think this could hardly get worse. I fear it could, and did. Michael Gove not only became the unfortunate woman’s son. He also became a victim in his own right. The thief “admitted to [sic] the theft of diesel, causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Michael Gove and stealing the Mitsubishi pickup‚” Later, this gem of a piece included the phrase “After his was arrest”. I shall not bother to try to compute the number of people who should have read this story before it appeared on the nation’s breakfast tables on Tuesday morning. You get my drift.

There have been so many literals this week that I suspect some of you either never could spell, or have given up trying. Perhaps my favourite was “hocky mom”, followed by “plumb compote” (bring on the lead poisoning). One reader, having spotted the words “Chrsitmas” and “adminsitration” in the same story wondered whether our newsroom was now being run by “mnokeys”. While it is good to provide the customers with amusement, it should be intentional …

If we are setting tests or quizzes for our readers, do try to ensure the right answers really are right. A test for would-be immigrants managed to get the voltage figure for this country wrong. It also said that one had to be 16 to enter the lottery which, as several readers pointed out, appeared to be hard on those aged 17 or more. The answer “16 or over” would have been better. I must stress again that it is of enormous importance to get styles and titles correct, even when they belong to fictional characters. An article on the new film Australia this week referred to the heroine as being first Lady Sarah Ashley and then Lady Ashley. She cannot be both. In the film she is the daughter of an earl, and therefore the first style is correct …

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Behind the scenes, Newspapers | Comments

Lots of problems in the neighborhood

July 31, 2008 – 8:00 am

In our July 23 report about England cricketer Andrew Flintoff’s successful planning application to build a pounds 4 million home in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire, we wrongly stated that neighbour Judith Holden had objected because of its “unattractive design and overuse of glass” and that fellow resident Carl Taylor had objected because the house would be unpleasant to look at. In fact their comments related to a different local residence unconnected with Mr Flintoff. We apologise to them both for our mistake. Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Comments

Der Spiegel retracts article about IKEA’s anti-Danish nomenclature

March 12, 2008 – 8:00 am

The website of German newspaper Der Spiegel recently issued a retraction for an article that claimed IKEA had a habit of naming inexpensive items after Danish towns. (High end items were named after Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian towns.) As the retraction explains, the story was based on a report in a Danish newspaper that turned out to be wildly exaggerated, if not completely fabricated. The story ran in other media outlets, notably the Daily Telegraph. Its story is still online sans correction or retraction. The Guardian has a comment piece about the debacle, and Adrian Monck also tackled the topic.
The retraction:

Last week, SPIEGEL ONLINE published an article about IKEA products named after Danish cities. We regret that we must retract the article because of inaccurate reporting. We apologize for the error.
In the article originally published at this address, SPIEGEL falsely reported that Danish researchers Klaus Kjøller and Trøls Mylenberg had conducted a “thorough analysis” of the naming conventions at Swedish furniture maker IKEA. In fact, Kjøller was approached by a journalist from the free daily Nyhedsavisen who had inquired about why apparently inferior IKEA products had been given the names of Danish towns.
Kjøller answered the question, but says he was very surprised by the “extremely exaggerated” article that appeared on the cover of Nyhedsavisen the following day, which would later get picked up by other media in Denmark and abroad, including SPIEGEL ONLINE.
“The story sounds good, but it unfortunately isn’t true,” Kjøller told SPIEGEL ONLINE on Monday. The author of the article and the editorial staff failed to contact Kjøller prior to the publication of the article.
SPIEGEL ONLINE strives to adhere to the highest standards of reporting and apologizes to its readers for the error, which we deeply regret.
– The Editors

Thanks, Ole!

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Fabrication, Major Errors, Newspapers, Online | Also tagged , | Comments

Scent of an apology

December 10, 2007 – 8:00 am

Following the item “Chanel left fuming” (Spy Nov 28), we now accept that it was entirely untrue to allege that Nicole Kidman, pictured, who globally endorses Chanel No 5 perfume under a multi-million-pound contract, had been openly using and promoting a competitor’s product at recent London press conferences for her new film The Golden Compass. We accept that there was therefore no basis to suggest that Ms Kidman had breached any contractual arrangements with Chanel and offer her our sincere apologies for any embarrassment caused. Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

Brother-in-law, not father

November 7, 2007 – 8:00 am

Our obituary of Lady Jeanne Campbell (Sept 22) said she had a daughter, Cusi Cram, “possibly by a man called Guy Nicholas Lancaster”. In fact Mr Lancaster is Ms Cram’s brother-in-law and was only five when she was born. We apologise to all concerned for our error. Link

Thanks, Gordon!

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Newspapers | Also tagged | Comments

The Morien Jones apologies, cont. again

April 27, 2007 – 8:00 am

The apologies keep rolling in for Morien Jones. This story goes back to last summer. Some newspapers continue to get the story wrong, while others are just getting around to correcting their reports from last year. Below are the latest installments. Read the previous ones by starting here.

FURTHER to our article on May 26 2006 about Lynett Burgess’s acquittal for indecent exposure, we have been asked to make clear her neighbour Morien Jones did not film Ms Burgess in her garden. The video shown in court was shot by Mr Jones’s builder as she walked naked in front of Mr Jones’s house.
We apologise to Mr Jones for any embarrassment caused. Link

On May 25 2006 we reported that Lynett Burgess has been cleared of indecent exposure for sunbathing nude in her garden. We stated that her neighbour, Mr Jones, had taken a video of her in her garden which was given to the police. We have been asked to make clear that Mr Jones’s builder in fact took the pictures when Ms Burgess was on Mr Jones’s drive.

In an article published on 18th April (‘Naked’ nurse’s living hell) we incorrectly reported that a builder had filmed Lyneth Burgess sunbathing naked in her own garden and that her neighbours, Morien and Nia Jones, reported her to police for this. In fact the builder’s film, taken on police advice, showed Ms Burgess walking naked on the driveway at the front of the Jones’ property, not on her own property. We apologise for any misleading impression given of Mr Jones and his family.Our agency-based report on the unsuccessful prosecution of Lynette Burgess for indecent exposure (25 May) suggested that she had been filmed sunbathing naked in her garden by a neighbour, Morien Jones. In fact the film, taken on police advice by Mr Jones’s builder in the context of possible court proceedings, showed Ms Burgess walking naked on the driveway at the front of Mr Jones’s property.
We apologise to Mr Jones for any embarrassment caused by the misunderstanding. Link

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Major Errors, Newspapers | Also tagged , , , , | Comments Off

The Morien Jones apologies, continued

September 15, 2006 – 8:01 am

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 Post, and this one from The Independent. And now for the rest:

  • BBC apology (at end of article)
  • Times (UK) apology and Press Complaints Commission decision
  • Daily Mail apology
  • News and Star apology
  • The Daily Telegraph also issued a written apology to Mr. Jones, but it has not published anything publicly. (We’ve removed the Telegraph apology and a BBC letter of apology from this site until Mr. Jones gives us the okay to put them back up.)
  • We’re told more are in the works…
By Craig Silverman | Posted in Major Errors, Newspapers | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments Off