OOPS!

MOST PRINT newspapers and magazines run corrections. These note mistakes both large and small. But as more people read news online, corrections face big changes.

- Lee Gjertsen Malone

“A correction is something news outlets do to set the record straight,” says Anne Glover. She is interim editor at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. The institute publishes lists of the worst—and the funniest—new corrections.

Not Always Right 

How often are stories wrong? Scott Maier is a professor at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communications. He has researched errors and corrections in the news media. His study looked at 4,800 news stories. It found errors in around 60 percent. “Errors are more common than journalists believe,” he says.

Most mistakes in the news are quite small. Think a misspelled name. Why print corrections? Maier says it’s to convey the idea that “we may not always get it right, but when we do make an error, we correct it prominently, and we correct it quickly.”

As It’s Happening 

Online news outlets often post articles as news is happening. Correcting an online posting is easy. But it’s hard to ensure all readers see the update.

“With the internet, mistakes get out quickly,” Maier says. “And sometimes corrections never catch up.”