Call the irony police.
A Daily Beast story about some of the best correspondence from former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee (note the first name) contains this 1978 advice in reply to a young man who asked for a job:
Even though you are still young, very young, let me give you some advice. When you write the editor of a newspaper for a job, other things being equal, you stand a better shot if you spell his name right.
No doubt an embarrassing moment for the young journalist. But the item bears a special resonance today in light of the fact that the Daily Beast story itself manages to, yes, misspell Bradlee’s name. His first name, to be specific.
Here’s the opening paragraph of the story as it currently exists on the site (emphasis added):
Former Washington Post reporter Jeff Himmelman sketches a vivid portrait of the legendary Post editor Bill Bradlee in his new authorized biography, Yours in Truth. Some of the best lines in the book, however, come directly from the pen of Bradlee himself. In letters, memos, and memoranda penned by Bradlee and reprinted in the book, readers encounter the rawest record extant of what it must have been like for Post reporters and editors to roll up their shirtsleeves and enter the trenches with the famed executive editor.
Hat tip to Dan Bloom for spotting the error.
Correction: Well, I also need to be arrested. This post originally included a misspelling of the Daily Beast as the Daily Beat.
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