I Stand Corrected

It's always embarrassing to run a correction. You spend all day researching and writing a story - drained, tired and irritable by the night - only to have a few readers call in the next morning to say you weren't diligent enough in your work.

That sets off the cycle. The Web site will probably be updated to mention the mistake, and for at least 24 hours until the next issue comes out, your mistake sits seemingly highlighted on thousands of copies while you wish you could have it back.

In baseball, pitchers say they often know they threw the wrong pitch that screwed everything up. The responsibility's on you, and it's a matter of having that short memory - to move on when everyone else does.

Maybe a name is misspelled (which is pretty much inexcusable) or a fact incorrectly attributed. Every once in a while some huge error happens, and the only thing we can do is apologize, plead human error and go to work the next day.

I always read the corrections sections in papers, but rarely hold the mistake against the reporter. We've all been there, and that day after really is the worst. That punishment is enough. Nothing else can be done.

Sometimes though, a correction is so epic that it's circulated around the Internet and used as an example for how out of touch the whole industry is. Those mistakes are funny and spread quickly. When that occurs, you can only laugh it off and enjoy the infamy.

-30-
Those corrections of classic rap songs will kill you every time.