October 26, 2009 – 8:00 am
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 homosexuality. As well, the photo caption said that Christiansen lived on the street for a year.
However, the Star failed to validate these claims with Christiansen’s mother’s friend or to present this man’s side of the story.
The man, who was not named in the article, rejects the teen’s claims and the article’s suggestion that homophobia caused the teen to leave home.
The man further says that Christiansen was never homeless and that he received family help in seeking alternative living arrangements in the neighbourhood and in paying his rent and some living expenses.
September 28, 2009 – 8:00 am
A Sept. 25 article about the proposed TTC 2010 capital budget incorrectly stated the amount needed to maintain the current system as $949 billion. In fact, $949 million will be needed to maintain the current system. Link
August 10, 2009 – 8:00 am
A Nov. 14, 2004, column about the death of Yasser Arafat included an unverified quotation attributed to former Israel Defence Forces chief of staff Moshe Yaalon. Yaalon, now Israel’s strategic affairs minister, was quoted in that 2004 column as saying in 2002 that "the Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people." That quotation, while widely cited over the years, did not appear in the 2002 interview published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, to which it has been attributed. Alon Ofek-Arnon, a spokesman for Yaalon, told the Star in an email that Yaalon never said this. As well, in a correction about this same quote published March 6, 2009, by the Chicago Tribune, Ari Shavit, the writer of the 2002 Haaretz article, said Yaalon did not say that. The Star has been unable to reach Shavit. Link
Here’s the Tribune correction.
An August 4 article on the effect parasites have on sexual reproduction attributed a quote to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In fact, the quote was from another Matthew Broderick movie, WarGames.
Link
A reader sent this image of a photo/photo caption mismatch in the Toronto Star:
This is the image it was eventually replaced with:
*Correction: The original headline on this post read "The curtains don’t match the drapes." That’s redundant. It has been corrected.
A May 16 article about an upcoming biopic of Frank Sinatra included an incorrect photo. The photo labelled as a picture of Frank Sinatra was in fact the Toronto-based Frank Sinatra tribute artist, Rick Sonata. Link
There are approximately 74,000 wind turbines currently operating in Europe, not 1,700 as was stated in a May 11 article about wind power.
A May 12 article about wind power incorrectly stated the current estimated cost of a new nuclear plant is $7,000 per megawatt of installed capacity. In fact, it is $7,000 per kilowatt. Link
A March 31 article about the lack of effectiveness of school gym class in reducing childhood obesity incorrectly stated that childhood obesity rates in Canada now stand at about 30 per cent.In fact, this estimate applies to combined overweight and obesity rates in Canadian children. The latest data published by Statistics Canada in 2006 placed childhood obesity rates in Canada at 8 per cent. Link
A March 14 article about Martha Stewart included incorrect information. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has a channel on Sirius Satellite Radio, Stewart does not own a radio station. Stewart’s housewares line is currently available in Macy’s stores. Stewart does not have an eco-flooring company but is participating in a multi-year agreement with FLOR, Inc. The Martha Stewart Show airs on the Fine Living Network, not on the Food Network or CBC television. Link
A photograph in yesterday’s Spectator mistakenly identified a man as Randy Kowaleski. Randy Kowaleski, pictured here, was injured in a bus crash in Mexico on Monday. His wife, Carolyn Kowaleski, was killed in the crash. The Spectator apologizes for the error and extends its sympathies to the family.
A photograph in yesterday’s Hamilton Spectator incorrectly identified a young musician.
He is Liam McGlashon, age 10.
A photo caption in Tuesday’s Spectator incorrectly identified winners of McMaster University’s Start-up Challenge. The names of the winners in the correct order are: Tim Pryor, left in photo, Terry Sachlos, centre, and Cristian Nunez, right.
A fish identified as a white perch in a photograph in yesterday’s Spectator is actually a yellow perch. Link
The Toronto Star also used the wrong photo for Mr. Kowaleski:
A March 18 article about a bus accident in Mexico that claimed the lives of three Canadians included an incorrect photo. The photo identified as Randy Kowaleski, who was seriously injured in the crash, was actually of a neighbour of Kowaleski. Link
A Feb. 26 article about Justice Arthur Gans incorrectly stated that David Stucky had been convicted of misleading advertising in connection with direct mail promotions in a trial presided over by Gans. In fact, Stucky was acquitted of the charges. Link
February 4, 2009 – 8:00 am
Two recent columns by newspaper ombudsmen caught my eye. Kathy English, public editor of the Toronto Star, wrote her latest column about the paper’s policy regarding the “unpublishing” of articles. An excerpt:
… Generally, the Star believes that unpublishing is a serious act as it erases the online history of the Star’s journalism. The Star’s policy on this states that while we indeed take seriously concerns of inaccuracy and will correct articles online, just as we do in the newspaper, we do not unpublish articles from our websites. This policy here is similar to that of other major newspapers, including the Washington Post, The New York Times and the Guardian.
If the Star ascertains that a mistake has been published, we correct it. Online, that means editing the text and also appending notes to the articles to tell readers that a correction has been made.
“Just as in print, the Star stands behind what it publishes online. Our purpose is to disclose information, not to hide information because it makes someone unhappy,” says Neil Sanderson, the Star’s assistant managing editor, digital. “If things started disappearing from our websites, readers might suspect that we were trying to conceal an error.
“As well, the stories that we publish are part of the historical record of our city, our province and our country,” he said. “To remove these stories from our archive would leave holes in our history.”
Derek Donovan, readers’ representative at the Kansas City Star, dedicated his end of year column to thanking readers for helping the paper correct errors. Excerpt:
One of my most important jobs at The Kansas City Star is tracking the corrections that run on Page A-2, and I was recently reminded how vital a role readers play in that process …
While appending a correction last Friday, I remembered vividly the caller who’d pointed out the mistake — dollar amounts for police badges that didn’t make sense as written. I then flipped through the previous month’s corrections tally and realized just how many of them came directly from readers, many of whom had no personal interest other than a desire to see The Star set the record straight …
The great collective wisdom of readers comes from the thousands of specialists who follow the news related to their specific areas of interest. I know I can always rely on military buffs to pick apart inaccurate descriptions of the patches on soldiers’ uniforms, or proud moms and dads who let me know when a school has sent in an incomplete team roster or honor roll. No mistake is truly trivial.
So I offer a sincere thanks to you, the readers. You’re directly responsible for alerting me to a huge percentage of those errors that result in corrections (435 so far this year). The Star is obviously far from perfect, but your attention to detail makes it better.
February 2, 2009 – 8:00 am
A Jan. 24 article about tattoo artist Kat Von D wrongly referred to her as a former exotic dancer.
In fact, the reality TV celebrity has never worked as an exotic dancer. The Star regrets the error. Link
January 15, 2009 – 8:00 am
The caption with a photo published Jan. 8 incorrectly stated that the photo depicted a hole in the basement of a house that led into a cinder-block tunnel Toronto police allege was used to move marijuana between the basements of two houses. In fact, the photo depicted a hole behind a grate on the side of the house. That hole is not part of the tunnel. Link
December 21, 2008 – 5:09 pm
On Friday, Columbia Journalism Review online published my latest weekly column. Read it here. I also wrote a Saturday op-ed for the Toronto Star about the year in errors and corrections. Below are excerpts from both pieces.
CJR column:
The Year in Errata
About a month ago, I began the laborious and depressing task of scouring the archives of Regret the Error to find the best of the worst in media errors and corrections from 2008. I published my annual round-up earlier this week, and you can read it here, along with a month-by-month listing of incidents of plagiarism and fabrication.
It’s strange enough that I spent an hour or two a day tracking accuracy news and reading hundreds of corrections. Then, once a year, I go back and spend hours re-reading everything I published. Setting aside the obvious element of repetition, the worst part is having to relive a year of journalism scandals, errors and ethical infractions …
Toronto Star:
Another year of errors and regrets
Readers of the New Hampshire-based Valley News couldn’t help but shake their heads. On July 21, the paper’s lead story reported Barack Obama had called the situation in Afghanistan “precarious,” but the biggest news was far above the fold: the paper had misspelled its own name. People were reading the Valley Newss.
“Readers may have noticed that the Valley News misspelled its own name on yesterday’s front page,” read a subsequent editor’s note. “Given that we routinely call on other institutions to hold themselves accountable for their mistakes, let us say for the record: we sure feel silly.”
Take heart, Valley News – you’re in good company.
Since 2004, I have been tracking press errors and corrections on my website, RegretTheError.com. Every year at this time I publish the best of the worst, along with a month-by-month catalogue of incidents of plagiarism and fabrication. In both cases, I have a lot of material to work with.
As a journalist, my professional pride takes a hit when, for example, the venerable Associated Press describes Senator Joseph Lieberman as a former “Democratic vice-presidential prick” or The Australian misquotes a beauty pageant contestant as having said she believes in “injustice and inequality.” …
September 22, 2008 – 8:00 am
Butterball turkeys are in no way connected to Maple Leaf Foods or the recent listeriosis outbreak in Canada.
This photo (above) depicting Butterball turkeys should not have been published with a Sept. 15 opinion article about the safety of cheap food. The Star did not intend to suggest that Butterball turkeys are unsafe. The Star apologizes for this error. Link
September 15, 2008 – 8:00 am
The headline on a Sept. 10 article by The Canadian Press about the fraud trial of George Radwanski was incorrect. The report made no reference to any testimony indicating that Radwanski lied. The Star retracts the headline and regrets the error.
The MILF Show by the Skin Tight Outta Sight Rebel Burlesque troupe (at the Cadillac Lounge, 1296 Queen St. W.) takes place on May 10 at 8 p.m., not May 11 as incorrectly stated in a May 8 article about the show. Link
A March 15 photo caption incorrectly identified the man in the above photo as Jonathan Black. It is actually a photo of Toronto law student Chris O’Connor. Mr. O’Connor was in no way connected to the incident allegedly involving Black. The Star regrets the error and apologizes to Mr. O’Connor. Link
February 21, 2008 – 8:00 am
A Feb. 17 article about a man shot and killed by police in a Davisville-area park included misquoted information. Christian van Heiningen said that three weeks ago a man was flashing (exposing himself), in Oriole Park, not slashing himself. Link
January 23, 2008 – 8:46 pm
James Dobson, founder and chair of Focus on the Family, is not an ordained minister. He was incorrectly referred to as a reverend in a Jan. 13 review of the documentary For the Bible Tells Me So. The Star regrets the error. Link
More of this series here, here and here.
January 17, 2008 – 8:00 am
A Jan. 9 headline incorrectly stated that a mother faces charges after a boy’s hands were dipped into a pot of boiling water. The 22-year-old Belleville woman charged with aggravated assault in connection with serious burns suffered by a 3-year-old boy is not the boy’s mother. The Star regrets the error. Link
January 16, 2008 – 8:00 am
As a result of wrong information provided by Reuters, singer Keyshia Cole was mistakenly identified as Mary J. Blige in a photo published Jan. 14. The Star regrets the error. Link (goes to Toronto Star correction)
January 14, 2008 – 8:00 am
A Jan. 9 article reporting testimony from a Canadian Judicial Council inquiry into the conduct of Justice Ted Matlow included an inaccurate quotation. The quote indicated that Ronald Lieberman told the inquiry Matlow told him he had received criticism from one person, “a lady judge.”
A transcript indicates Lieberman said Matlow told him he had not received any criticism from that individual.
According to the transcript, Lieberman said: “…I think I had asked him whether he had criticisms from anyone, and he said that he had not had any criticism from – it was a lady judge who was his superior, but I can’t recall her name.”
The Star regrets the error. Link
January 2, 2008 – 8:00 am
A Dec. 23 concert listing about a Dec. 27 performance by R&B artist Omarion included an incorrect photo. The photo identified as Omarion was actually of hip-hop artist Bow Wow. The Star regrets the error. Link
