Back in 2007, Slate did a rare thing: it profiled a reader who was a prolific spotter of errors in Slate articles.
Jack Shafer, at the time Slate’s media critic, wrote a column that described regular reader RM “Auros” Harman as “A walking, talking, error-correction algorithm ….”
“Auros is easily one of the most prolific ‘gotcha’ artists currently submitting corrections to the magazine,” Shafer wrote.
Almost seven years later, Harman is still practising his art, and Slate is still giving him his due.
This gem was appended today to a story by Matthew Yglesias (headline: “Are Hobbits Human?”):
Correction, Jan. 2, 2014: The caption for this story originally stated that Arwen and Aragorn are half-elf and half-human. Aragorn is three-fourths human and one-fourth elf. Arwen is 3/16 human, 25/32 elf, and 1/32 Maia. Thanks to reader Auros Harman for the genealogical analysis.
It’s great when a publication credits a person for spotting an error, and lord knows Harman is deserving of recognition. He consistently helps improve Slate’s content, for no fee and with good humor.
Slate science and health editor Laura Helmuth also shared the correction on Twitter, and offered yet another tip of the hat to Harman. This inspired a reply from Harman:
@laurahelmuth @Slate I didn’t think you guys would actually publish that one; mostly I worked it out just because I’m a smart-ass. 🙂
— Auros Harman (@AurosHarman) January 2, 2014
Cheers to smart-asses everywhere!
Comments