In this story, a voter suggests that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has made anti-gay comments. NPR has not been able to find any evidence that Wright made such comments. Wright has supported the ordination of gay clergy. He also started a singles group for gay and lesbian members at his church. Our story should have acknowledged this. Link
UPDATE April 11, 2008: Alicia Shepard, the NPR ombudsman, wrote an column that details how this error made it to air. From her piece:
Jason Carlson was driving home listening to All Things Considered (ATC) on March 24 when he heard a gay man say he would not vote for Sen. Barack Obama because the senator’s pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, was anti-gay.
That didn’t gibe with what Carlson, an Evanston, Ill. high school science teacher, knew about Wright. Later, Carlson did a quick Internet search using “Wright” and “anti-gay,” and discovered that what he had heard on NPR was, in fact, wrong. In a piece edited before broadcast, ATC had put something on air without checking to make sure it was correct.
Carlson immediately emailed NPR pointing out how much Wright has done for gays and lesbians. “With the craziness that is already swirling around this campaign, diligence is required on everyone’s part to keep the misinformation to a minimum,” his email said.
Wright has some controversial stands but he is not anti-gay. Wright’s record of outreach to gays and lesbian is extensive and well-documented in the public record.
The three-minute segment that drew Carlson’s ire was filed by veteran public radio reporter Joel Rose, who was reporting on the Obama campaign’s effort to recruit independent voters to register as Democrats for the upcoming Pennsylvania primary. As Independent voter Chuck Aronson was switching to the Democratic party, he said Obama lost his vote because of Wright, whom he mistakenly described as anti-gay.
“That actually really upset me, being a gay man and hearing like anti-gay and anti- all kinds of things,” Aronson said in the ATC piece. “It’s really — you know, I just — it sort of disappointed me that he just, at some point, didn’t get up and go, you know what, I just really don’t want to be a part of it.”
In using this tape in his story, Rose made the kind of mistake even an experienced journalist can make, but shouldn’t: he assumed. He assumed that Aronson knew what he was talking about.
“Chuck (Aronson) was so sure of himself that I got distracted by his enthusiasm,” said Rose in an email. “I’m still glad he was in the story because he helps make the point that not all former independents are planning to vote for Obama. But clearly I should have been more selective about what was in the quote (and what wasn’t).”
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In the March edition of “The Australian Financial Review Magazine” there was incorrect information about Fortescue Metals. The article “The wild, mild west”, on pages 24-32 of the magazine, stated that the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) had been involved in civil and criminal charges against Fortescue Metals. In fact, no criminal charges have been brought against Fortescue.
An article in Feb. 18 editions repeated charges made by Republican candidate for Congress Dean Hrbacek that a law firm, Williams & Jensen, had ties to Jack Abramoff. The article also cited reports that the firm’s managing partner, L. Steven Hart, traveled with a group of government officials and lobbyists to Scotland to play golf. After being contacted by Williams & Jensen concerning the accuracy of the article, the Houston Chronicle’s re-examination has revealed that Hart’s correct name is J. Steven Hart, that there is no credible evidence that Hart traveled to Scotland with government officials on one of Abramoff’s trips or otherwise, and, also, that there is no credible evidence that Williams and Jensen has any “ties” to Abramoff or his lobbying activities. 
Eugene Kaspersky, co-founder and CEO of the internet security company Kaspersky Lab, was never a “KGB man” or a lieutenant in the KGB (The ex-KGB man stalking the cybercriminals, page 5, Technology, January 31). He studied cryptography at a high school which was then co-sponsored by the Russian department of defence and KGB, and went on to work for the department of defence. 
A Dec. 4 letter to the editor described Gary McHale in a way that was not accurate. The Hamilton Spectator withdraws any suggestion that Mr. McHale has perpetrated violence in his activities at Caledonia. The Hamilton Spectator apologizes for the error. 
There is no documented evidence to suggest dance poles sold at Condom Shack cannot bear the weight of a user. An unsubstantiated claim appeared in a Post Homes feature on Saturday. 
Julie A. Tucker of Holland was not charged with driving while intoxicated as part of a sobriety checkpoint that state police operated Jan. 1 in the Town of Aurora, as was reported in The News on Jan. 2. State police erroneously listed her among the drivers charged.
A Pioneer Press front-page headline on Nov. 2 read, “Finney pal indicted in 1981 killing.” This headline may have carried the implication that Bill Finney, the retired St. Paul police chief, was involved in the grand jury murder indictment of Aaron Foster, in connection with the 1981 death of Barbara Winn. Finney is not mentioned in that indictment. We regret any unintended implication.
In an article on page A10 of the Jan. 30 edition of the Citizen, a number of inaccurate statements were made about Ottawa surgeon Dr. Joel Freeman.
In an article ‘Get rich quick’ property training course throws caution to the wind (Money, page 8, March 31, 2007) we did not intend to suggest that Win Investing recommends tax evasion. We also accept Darren Winters’ assurance that he did not sell pyramid investments as a student at Exeter University. .png)
Also last week, in “An opening night bash to Thai for”, we complimented Jonathan Roxmouth on his beautiful voice. Unfortunately, we called him Jonathan Frogmouth. We apologise for the error.
Musician’s life: A Critic’s Notebook in Sunday’s Arts & Music section said that the late pianist and composer Ervin Nyiregyhazi probably had an affair with the wife of conductor Artur Rodzinski. He did not. Also, a photo caption accompanying the article identified Nyiregyhazi as Romanian. He was Hungarian. 
IN THE weekend edition of January 12-13, The Courier-Mail published an article, “Aurukun rape victim in hiding”, which incorrectly said that a 12-year-old child had been raped by her father before she was five. The Courier-Mail regrets the error, retracts the allegation and apologises to the father for any distress and embarrassment caused as a result of the publication.
In a story published on Page 7 of the Thursday edition of the Ottawa Sun, it was incorrectly reported that an expert testified that OPP officers, involved in a fatal Nov. 2005 shooting, did not follow their training.
OUR article last Tuesday headed “It’s Sven Giggle Eriksson” pictured Mr Eriksson in a hotel restaurant with a young lady.
A sports article on Thursday about the surprising emergence of running back Ryan Grant of the Green Bay Packers referred incorrectly to his classroom performance at the University of Notre Dame. The university said he was never ineligible to play for academic or other reasons; he did not miss one season because of academic trouble. 
IN THURSDAY’S Birmingham Mail, we reported that the late John Powell, aged 17, of Amington Road, Shirley, had used cocaine before driving in a crash that killed him and his passenger in Baldwins Lane, Hall Green, on February 2 last year.
The Daily Telegraph yesterday said in a story that Virgin Atlantic was involved in a price fixing conspiracy with Qantas and two other airlines.
On 9 January 2008, “The Australian Financial Review” (AFR) commented on business dealings by the former prime minister Paul Keating. The page 11 article referred to his closeness to former Indonesian president Soeharto and described these as “difficult memories” for the Australian Labor Party. The AFR accepts that Keating has not had business dealings with Soeharto, nor any person associated with his regime, and that their association was in accordance with the official relationship expected of heads of state. The AFR apologises to Paul Keating for any embarrassment from the article.
A police blotter listing in some editions of Neighbors on Thursday mistakenly listed charges against Mark F. Campbell, 54, of Central Square. The listing incorrectly said the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office charged Campbell with aggravated driving while intoxicated, driving while intoxicated, third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and failure to keep right. Campbell faces no such charges. Campbell appears in a sheriff’s report that says on Dec. 26 his car was struck by a horse on county Route 4 in Palermo. The collision resulted in no tickets.
A front-page pointer in yesterday’s Canberra Times said ACT cyclist Michael Rogers was named in new doping allegations. Anti-doping expert Professor Werner Franke told German radio earlier this week the entire T-Mobile team, which included Rogers, had resorted to blood transfusions.
Dallas A. Crockett went to federal prison in 1997 after being convicted of fraud and in 1998 after being convicted of a parole violation related to his fraud conviction. A Dec. 11, 2007, article was imprecise about the reason for his second stint in prison and may have incorrectly implied he was twice convicted of fraud. Additionally, a Dec. 13, 2007, article about Crockett settling with two of three defendants in his defamation lawsuit against them was incorrectly labeled as a public safety item. There is no support for the implication relating to Crockett’s second stint in prison or for the implication that his lawsuit related to criminal activity, and The Oregonian regrets the publication of the original statements. 
On November 11, we published a news story headlined ‘Cruise furious at reporter Morton’.
