Regret the Error » wall street journal

Know your world leaders

Craig Silverman — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:00:09 +0000

Stephen Harper is prime minister of Canada. In some editions Thursday, the front-page World-Wide news summary incorrectly referred to him as the country’s premier. Link

Empire Strikes Backstraat is not a street in the Netherlands

Craig Silverman — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:00:35 +0000

“Empire Strikes Backstraat” isn’t the name of an actual street in Almere, the Netherlands. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the town had a street with that name. Link (sub req’d)

Thanks, Niels!

Know thyself

Craig Silverman — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:00:51 +0000

The Wall Street Journal Europe had average daily circulation of 100,769 in 2002. In some editions Friday, a graphic with a Corporate News article about the paper incorrectly stated the 2002 circulation as 101,769. Link

Streaming, not screaming

Craig Silverman — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:00:32 +0000

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, when speaking of raising taxes to balance Italy’s budget, said, “It’s clear that our hearts are streaming with blood.” A World News article about Italy’s budget measures in some editions Saturday incorrectly quoted Mr. Berlusconi as saying, “It’s clear that our hearts are screaming with blood.” The incorrect quote also appeared with an accompanying photo. Link

Out of order

Craig Silverman — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:00:46 +0000

U.K. lawyer Jane Phillips says that in her closing argument in a 2000 libel case in London, she told the jury, referring to reporter Tim Luckett: “It appears from Mr. Luckett’s evidence that it is the police source, who he refused to identify, who is responsible for this information leaking into the public domain in the first place. This policeman or woman sold false information to the Sunday Mirror for about £50.” An article about the case in Corporate News on Tuesday incorrectly said “police force” instead of “police source” and “forth information” instead of “false information.” Link

WSJ removes errors from Norway editorial, I discuss with On The Media

Craig Silverman — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:30:21 +0000

I was a guest on last week’s edition of the WNYC program On The Media to discuss the Wall Street Journal’s scrubbing of its editorial about the attacks in Norway. Here’s their intro for the segment:

In the wake of the Oslo attacks, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial blaming the violence on Islamic extremists. When further reporting revealed that the killer wasn’t a Muslim, the Journal changed its editorial online without issuing any sort of correction. Craig Silverman, who tracks newspaper corrections at his website Regret the Error, tells Bob that the Journal acted dishonestly.

(You can see the original article here, and the edited one over here.)

You can listen here. A transcript is here.

Also, at one point during the interview I mistakenly referred to the “Wall Street Post” instead of the Washington Post.* We noted the error during the interview but I’ll make the correction here as well.

*Correction August 3, 2011: I originally wrote that during the radio interview I referred to the “Wall Street Post” instead of the Wall Street Journal. In fact, I had meant to say the Washington Post. So that makes this a correction to a correction. Thanks Doug!

Fuzzy numbers etc.

Craig Silverman — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:00:30 +0000

A June 15 article about a cargo sailboat docking in Brooklyn incorrectly stated the tonnage of bananas being carried by a nearby ship. The ship had 1,241 tons of bananas aboard, according to a port official; the article incorrectly said it was carrying 20,000 tons of bananas. Link

Fuzzy numbers etc.

Craig Silverman — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:00:56 +0000

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former chief of the International Monetary Fund, is posting a $5 million bond as part of a package to gain his release from jail. In some editions Friday, a front-page What’s News item incorrectly gave the amount as $5 billion. Link

WSJ spins fiction about Danielle Steel

Craig Silverman — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:00:31 +0000

The author Danielle Steel says she doesn’t drink alcohol and still retains her collection of couture clothing. Ms. Steel’s daughter Vanessa Traina is a stylist, fashion consultant and editor, and her daughter Victoria Traina is a fashion designer. An interview in Saturday’s Off Duty section incorrectly said that Ms. Steel drinks alcohol and has sold much of her couture. The article also incorrectly characterized Victoria Traina as an editor and Vanessa Traina as a fashion designer. Link

Fuzzy numbers etc.

Craig Silverman — Mon, 09 May 2011 12:00:59 +0000

Lee Enterprises’ first-quarter loss was $1.47 million. A Money & Investing article in some editions Wednesday about the company’s bond offering incorrectly stated the loss as $1.47 billion. Link

Fuzzy numbers etc.

Craig Silverman — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:00:24 +0000

UBS AG's cost to resolve a case stemming from the sale of Lehman Brothers Holdings notes, before Lehman's collapse, is $10.75 million. The Financial Briefing Book in Tuesday's Money & Investing section incorrectly said $10.75 billion. Link

Fun with photos

Craig Silverman — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:00:55 +0000

In some editions Monday, a Money & Investing article about the Galleon insider-trading trial was incorrectly accompanied by a photo of Arindam Ghosh, a vice president at consulting firm Analysis Group. Because of incorrect information from Bloomberg News, he was misidentified as former Intel Corp. executive Rajiv Goel, a defendant in the Galleon case. In addition, the court drawing with the article showed prosecutor Jonathan Streeter, but the caption incorrectly identified him as prosecutor Andrew Michaelson. Link

Twitter 101

Craig Silverman — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:00:50 +0000

Twitter Inc. lets users post messages up to 140 characters in length. A Marketplace article on Wednesday incorrectly said messages can be up to 140 words. Link

About those drugs…

Craig Silverman — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 13:00:18 +0000

In 2003 Zahra Bahrami was convicted of drug smuggling in the Netherlands and sentenced to three years in prison. Monday's op-ed "Zahra Bahrami and Iran's Voices for Freedom" incorrectly stated that "Bahrami had no known history of drug use or criminality of any kind." Link

Smooth, not small

Craig Silverman — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 13:00:06 +0000

A Samsung executive, in a conference call with analysts on Jan. 28, said that sales to consumers of Galaxy Tab were "quite smooth." A technology story erroneously quoted the executive as saying they were "quite small." Link