In an Aug. 30 story about agriculture damage from Hurricane Irene, relying on information from the Maryland Department of Agriculture on poultry deaths, The Associated Press reported erroneously that about 30,000 birds had been killed in that state. The department now says no birds died as a result of the storm. On Thursday, a department [...]
A notice from the AP: The mayor of Vilnius acknowledged Tuesday distributing a deliberately altered picture to The Associated Press and other news organizations intended to dramatize his anti-parking campaign, an image that then was published in newspapers around world. The AP withdrew the photo, transmitted on Aug. 3, and notified its customers of the [...]
Because of incorrect information provided by the Fairfield County coroner’s office, an item about the death of a 19-year-old Rock Hill man published on Heraldonline.com and in Tuesday’s editions of The Herald contained several errors. John Clinton was injured while wake boarding Sunday on Lake Wateree. He was not knee-boarding. Clinton was injured about three [...]
This story was a follow-up to a piece that originally aired 10 years ago. At the time, reporter Colin Fogarty profiled an 8-year-old child named Anthony. His last name was withheld because he was a minor. NPR has now been informed by Friends of the Children that they made a major mistake: The Anthony Blackmon [...]
Julie Bailey was featured in a Nov. 25 Crossroads story and photo about a T-shirt drive at Glasgow High School organized by her friend Ashley Green to support her. Contrary to the story, her parents, Kirk and Peggy Bailey, said their daughter does not have a brain tumor and has not been admitted to Alfred [...]
In a column in Thursday's Spectator, three inmates at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre in the same cell block as convicted murderer Johnson Aziga gave false names to a reporter. Some of the comments were wrongly attributed to John Bailey. While Bailey is an inmate, he is not on the cell block where Aziga is held. [...]
This correction was appended the the latest edition of my weekly column for Columbia Journalism Review: The original version of this column stated the Daily Beast used iThenticate to check Gerald Posner’s articles for plagiarism. Robert Creutz says he is unaware of the specific nature of the material the Beast was checking with the service. [...]
In a Dec. 28 story, The Associated Press, relying on information from Van Morrison’s Hollywood-based publicist and his official Web site, reported erroneously that the Irish singer had a new baby boy with a woman identified as “his wife, GiGi.” Morrison said Thursday in a statement through his Dublin public relations firm that the report [...]
The Big City column on Tuesday, about Terri White, an actress who is back on Broadway in “Finian’s Rainbow†a year after an eviction left her homeless, overstated her professional achievements, based on information provided by Ms. White. Although she was featured in the Tony-nominated “Barnum†in 1980, she did not herself earn a nomination. [...]
An Aug. 20 Living section article about the lack of services for homeless gay and lesbian youth featured the experience of a young man, Solomon Christiansen. The article reported that Christiansen felt he had no where to turn, left home, dropped out of school and began taking drugs because his mother’s boyfriend couldn’t accept his [...]
I placed a link to this remarkable Slate story on the What I’m Reading sidebar on this site last week. Now the New York Daily News has finally responded to the evidence uncovered by Slate. The News published this correction on Friday: AN AUG. 23 Daily News story by a freelance reporter about the hip-hop [...]
In a June 15 story about DF Indie Studios, The Associated Press reported erroneous claims by the company and founders Mary Dickinson and Charlene Fisher. In a news release and in interviews, DF Indie Studios and the founders said their movies will be produced by such Hollywood figures as Ridley and Tony Scott. Dickinson and [...]
Suspect gave wrong address: A story in Tuesday’s editions about Mario Vargas, who was arrested Saturday after being accused of taking a bite out of a Metairie man’s arm, listed Vargas’ address as 724 Camp St., New Orleans, according to a Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office arrest report. An official from St. Patrick’s Church, located at [...]
In a story about coffee bars in high schools that appeared on Page One on Feb. 19, a Lake Travis High School student who claimed to drink as many as five coffee-flavored shakes a day falsely identified herself as Erica Bonin . School officials said they could not confirm the identity of the student who [...]
My Columbia Journalism Review online column for this week looks at unreliable sources. An excerpt is below; click on the headline to read the full column. Sources of Error He spoke with a polished English accent, once shared a crème brûlée torte with Hillary Clinton, and spent part of the summer officiating tennis at the [...]
Dean Sullivan, 43, was arrested on charges of possessing heroin, crystal meth and materials used to make crystal meth after a car was pulled over Sunday in the Clinton-Bailey area. When he was arrested, he gave police the name of his brother, Tyrone Sullivan, who is not charged. As a result, a report in some [...]
A front-page picture caption on June 26 describing an 11-month-old boy whose legs were in casts stated that his legs were broken and that his mother said the injuries were caused by an episode of state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe. After the picture and an accompanying article that also described the injuries were published, The New [...]
Because of an incorrect photo provided by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, a Tuesday Express-News story about a slaying suspect was accompanied by a photograph of a San Antonio man who was not connected in any way with the slaying. The story, ‘Transient’s tale ends in arrest,’ was published on Page 1A. The photo did [...]
