Tag Archives: headline errors

Apology

November 9, 2009 – 8:00 am

The headline, Cops cleared in Taser death of former Selkirk man, in last week’s Journal was misleading. The article stated the medical examiner determined the suspect died from excited delirium brought on by drugs in his system; his death was not caused by the Taser. The Journal regrets the mistake and apologizes for it.

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

The head doesn’t match the body

October 14, 2009 – 8:00 am

ausralianTHE headline on an article in The Australian yesterday (“Minister was a lobbyist for homes project”, page 6) may have implied that NSW Emergency Services Minister Steve Whan was employed to lobby on behalf of the Tralee project, near Canberra airport. In fact, as the article made clear, Mr Whan’s work for Endeavour Consulting, before he entered parliament, was not connected with Tralee.

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Apology

October 6, 2009 – 8:00 am

torontosunA headline on an article in the September 29 edition of the Toronto Sun concerning contract work done by Courtyard Group for the Ontario provincial government was both inaccurate and unfair. In fact, the Toronto Sun has no knowledge, or any reason to believe, that Courtyard acted improperly in any way in agreeing to perform, and in performing, work for the Ontario government or its agencies. The Sun apologizes for any injury or inconvenience. Link

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We teaches kids to read and write

September 25, 2009 – 8:00 am

mtlgazetteThe Gazette of Montreal takes part in an annual campaign called Raise-A-Reader. It helps raise money for literacy programs. Unfortunately, a front page headline yesterday about the campaign did little to help the cause:

gazettereadererrorcrop

Here it is as it appeared on the front page below the fold (click for larger):

gazettereadererror

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The head doesn’t match the body

September 24, 2009 – 8:00 am

ausralianTHE headline on an article on Page 4 of yesterday’s edition of The Australian, which read “Bank bonuses OK: Hockey”, could have been read as suggesting opposition Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey favoured extravagant bonuses for bank executives.
In fact, as was clear in the article, Mr Hockey questioned the role of the G20 in regulating pay levels, which he said should be dealt with by the shareholders of companies.

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Regret the links

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 miss out on them. They’re all worth checking out. Enjoy.

Press Accuracy Rating Hits Two-Decade Low – Pew Research Center
pewresearch.org | September 14, 2009
More bad news re: trust and accuracy.

DISPUTATIONS: Spy Games | The New Republic
The New Republic | September 16, 2009
Victor Navasky demands satisfaction from The New Republic.

FACTS, ERRORS AND THE KINDLE | More Intelligent Life
moreintelligentlife.com | September 4, 2009
I’m interviewed in this Economist story about book errors and corrections.

Accidental headline of the year | Media Monkey | Media | guardian.co.uk
Guardian | September 1, 2009

A horror story involving the correction of a published scientific article – Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
stat.columbia.edu | August 25, 2009


By Craig Silverman | Posted in Regret Articles | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments

Support the roops

September 16, 2009 – 12:56 pm

A headline typo from AP:

usroops

Original here.

Thanks, Morgan!

By Craig Silverman | Posted in Wire service | Also tagged , | Comments

Toronto Sun apologizes for “stupid” headline

May 11, 2009 – 8:00 am

torontosunA headline on page one of the Toronto Sun yesterday was both inaccurate and misleading. In fact, as the story reported, the mother of a boy involved in a high school fight in Keswick said her son “said something stupid.” She did not say nor imply he was stupid. The Sun regrets the error and apologizes to the boy and his family. Link

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Headline puts Duke lacrosse case accuser on the team

April 24, 2009 – 8:00 am

The McClatchy Watch blog spotted this bad typo on a Raleigh News & Observer blog post:

duke

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Wrong Palin

February 19, 2009 – 8:00 am

seattletimesA previous version of this story had an incorrect headline that stated “Sarah Palin says abstinence is unrealistic.” It was Sarah Palin’s daughter who made the statement. Link

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Thoughtless hed

January 7, 2009 – 8:00 am

nytbanner1A headline on Dec. 25 with an article about Herbert and Marion Sandler, bankers and philanthropists whose World Savings Bank originated a type of adjustable-rate mortgage called Pick-a-Pay that has led to many foreclosures as the real estate market and the economy collapsed, described incorrectly the consequences to the Sandlers of the criminal and legal investigations of the practices of the bank, which they sold to Wachovia in 2006. As the article noted, the Sandlers were once trusted mortgage pioneers and now face scrutiny, but they are not “pariahs.” Link

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Just in case you got the wrong idea…

January 5, 2009 – 8:00 am

The headline on a front-page article on Friday, on the role in the housing bubble and consumption binge in the United States played by investment from China, could have been misunderstood. The article described how the United States has been tolerating a huge trade deficit with China while Chinese authorities have invested huge sums in American government securities from savings partly created by the inflow of American dollars. “Dollar Shift: Chinese Pockets Filled as Americans’ Emptied” meant to describe the complications of that situation; it did not mean to imply that China has profited from the weakness of the American economy. Link

Interestingly, the above was labeled a “postscript,” not a correction.

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Edmonton Journal deems headline “totally uncalled-for”

July 16, 2008 – 8:00 am

A headline on page A16 in Monday’s paper — “Carbon-capture plan reeks of dirty money” — was totally uncalled-for, and mis-characterized efforts by an Edmonton firm to finance and launch a carbon-capture-and-storage project. A subheadline on the same column unfairly implied that former premier Don Getty, in his capacity as one of the principals in the firm, was doing something wrong by seeking a government startup subsidy for the project.
Capital Reserve Canada Ltd. is perfectly eligible to apply for money under the government’s $2-billion carbon-capture initiative. Although the government is not asking that firms repay the subsidies once the associated project is up and running, the article made it clear that Getty insisted his firm would return the kickstart money.
Finally, the presentation of the article failed to make clear that it was an opinion piece by Calgary Herald columnist Don Braid.
The Journal apologizes for the errors. Link

It’s rare to see such strong language in a correction. Here’s a cached version of the column.

Thanks, X!

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Apology

February 13, 2008 – 8:00 am

An apology from the Western Suburbs Weekly of Perth, Australia:

LAST week s Western View was about The Beauty of Africa Ball, which is a fundraising event to raise money to educate street children in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
The headline Ugly face of Africa on show was not supplied by guest columnist Casta Tungaraza but was chosen by a sub-editor. The choice of words was regrettable and the Western Suburbs Weekly apologises for any offence caused.
Tickets for the ball, which will include a parade of contemporary African fashions, magical African music and dance performances, are on sale at Ticketek on 13 28 49

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