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.

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

Sign o' The Times

There's a reason the New York Times faces such a huge amount of scrutiny for a daily newspaper - the paper's really good.

That's obvious, yes, but I think we forget it sometimes. It's assumed the stories come easier, because who wouldn't want to talk to the New York Times? Even if the reporter calls with a story where your caught dead to rights, you're much better off playing ball and trying to get in your side of the story. That is some very impressive clout.

I bring all this up to highlight today's front page story on how President Obama decided on the latest Afghan surge. It's one of the best things I've read in months. With many deep-background quotes, Peter Baker tells a very intimate story of the meetings with Obama's closet advisers.

The best part was this leaked quote:

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"'What I’m not going to tolerate is you talking to the press outside of this room,' (Obama) scolded his advisers. 'It’s a disservice to the process, to the country and to the men and women of the military.'”

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The access they have in the White House is stunning, especially considering Obama's predecessor. President Bush once infamously called Times reporter Adam Clymer a "major league asshole" while on the campaign trail in 2000 and ripped the paper during his entire administration. Rahm Emanuel supposedly calls up Times reporters just to shoot off about whatever crazy thing is bugging him that day.

Here's hoping that kind of access is kept through, you know, good journalism, and not holding great stories that would be detrimental to the White House. Because if another paper picks it up and the Times' critics (your Hannitys and Becks) have more ammunition to accuse the paper of censoring the truth, everyone would suffer.

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Enjoy.