WE over-estimated the number of Somalis living in Sheffield. There are closer to 5,000 than the 250,000 we said (Page 25, April 24). Link
Smelt hatchery: An article in Tuesday’s California section on a proposed fish hatchery to breed endangered delta smelt said the facility was expected to be completed by 2001. The goal is for the hatchery to begin operation in 2011. Link
An article on Sunday about companies that missed Wall Street earnings estimates after a long history of exceeding them misstated General Electric’s results for the first quarter of this year. It earned $4.3 billion; it did not have a quarterly loss. Link
Washington Mutual Inc. is paying TPG $50 million for its part in arranging a $7 billion capital infusion, on top of the $198 million it is paying underwriters led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. A Breakingviews column Monday incorrectly stated that the $50 million was more than the $198 million [...]
Thirteen billion golf balls, lying end to end, could go around the earth 14 times. An article in the April 7 Golf report incorrectly said nine times. Link
Thanks, Christopher and Marty!
LAST week’s article on tax, Get Your Act Together by Mike Hanley, contained some inaccuracies.
A tax return is usually between 17 and 48 pages, not up to 180 pages as stated.
The Medicare rebate provides a 20 per cent refund of out of pocket medical expenses over $1500.
The article stated that the Medicare levy is calculated [...]
An article on Saturday’s front page about a 1999 conviction in a robbery and attempted carjacking case gave an incorrect date for the crime on one reference. It occurred in September 1997, not September 2007. Link
The Bayou, a blog run by the Beaumont Enterprise, recently highlighted an amusing error in the paper:
A story in today’s Enterprise might have slightly overstated the number of visitors who’ll attend a tourism conference in Beaumont later this month. Slightly. Just a bit. A tad.
The story reported that the Southeast Texas Area Regional Tourism Group [...]
A front-page obituary and a headline in some editions on Sunday about the actor Charlton Heston misstated his age and the year of his birth. He was 84, not 83, and was born in 1923, not 1924. Link
The Huffington Post has a nice screen grab of the confusion, along with some interesting updates/analysis.
Yesterday’s article “Ferry master reckless, court told” incorrectly said a dinghy involved in a harbour accident had a 250-horsepower outboard engine. It was a 25-horsepower motor.
Dave Reichert’s compensation for the TV adaptation was “well below” six figures, not “in the low six figures” as originally stated in March 30, 2008 story. Link
A story in Thursday’s Rio Rancho Journal incorrectly stated that Manuel Fidel Chavez faces up to 21 years in prison. It should have said Chavez could be held at a detention center until he turns 21, depending on the sentence he is given at a later date.
Chavez, 18, was tried as a minor. A Sandoval [...]
THURSDAY’S article “Plastic bag use surges by billion” said the more than 4 billion bags which were imported into Australia last year contained about 22 million tonnes of plastic. To the relief of shoppers, the correct figure is about 22,000 tonnes.
The market capitalisation of the US investment bank Bear Stearns was once again misreported when we said it was once valued at $70bn (Does anybody know what went wrong?, page 6, G2, March 24). As we pointed out in this column last week, it was worth about $25bn at its peak and its highest value [...]
Heather Mills’s charitable donations, recorded in the part of the divorce case judgment released to the public, are £627,000 and not £627 as we had it in a panel headed The assets, page 7, March 19. Link
Weight loss: An article about personal versus online weight-loss support in Monday’s Health section reported that the Weight Watchers website had more than 17,000 unique visitors in January. The site had 17 million visitors. Link
A March 16 Style & Arts article about the film “Under the Same Moon” misstated the number of unaccompanied minors apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2005. The agency apprehended 11,890 unaccompanied minors that year, not 115,000, The latter figure is roughly the total number of minors apprehended, including those seized along with adult [...]
A March 14 story about spring break incorrectly stated that Fort Lauderdale had 7.8 billion visitors in 2001. The correct figure was 7.8 million. Link
An article in Business Day on Tuesday about the rising price of diesel misstated the amount of diesel and gasoline used by Americans in 2007. They used about 3.395 billion barrels of gasoline, not 3.395 billion gallons, and about 1.55 billion barrels of diesel and heating oil, not 1.55 billion gallons. (At 42 gallons to [...]
A story in Wednesday’s paper reported that 90,000 people attended the Canadian Idol auditions in Hamilton the previous weekend. In fact, only 900 people attended. Link
A quote in a story about Warren Buffett contained an error: Bill Gates’s mansion would not have cost $40bn or $50bn, but $40m or $50m (After 13 years of Gates, enter the new richest man in the world: The Sage, page 3, March 6). Link
Because of an editing error, an article on Sunday about India’s energy consumption misstated the number of people in the country who rely on animal waste and firewood as fuel for cooking. It is about 700 million, not 700,000. Link
A correction from the paper’s online corrections page:
An obituary for Ken O’Brien in Wednesday’s Metro section included a headline that incorrectly stated the year of his death. O’Brien died in 2008. A corrected obituary appears today.
The correction found at the top of the online version of the story :
This corrected obituary replaces an erroneous obituary [...]
February 29, 2008 – 8:00 am
Because of an editing error, an article on Wednesday about a lawsuit filed against energy companies by an Alaska Native coastal village that is being forced to relocate because of flooding caused by the changing Arctic climate misstated the estimated cost of moving the village. It could cost up to $400 million, not up to [...]
February 28, 2008 – 8:00 am
The Books of The Times review on Feb. 15 of “The Middle-Class Millionaire,” about a new demographic group that can afford expensive new personal services, overstated the cost of concierge-type medicine. Patients pay a retainer of as much as $20,000 a year, not a month. Link
