Our annual collection of media corrections is, undoubtedly, an excuse to chuckle at our industry’s missteps.
But it’s also a recognition of an honorable practice that not everyone follows. Outlets that mark their corrected articles clearly or collect them in one easily searchable section (for example, The Guardian) may be over-represented in this list, but they should be commended.
A note on selection: This is a list of media corrections, not media errors. Barring two errors that were retracted without acknowledgment (boo!), we did not include slip-ups that went uncorrected.
Also read our lists for 2013, 2014 and 2015.
The funny
At the beginning of December, The Associated Press had a case of Schrödinger’s Hollande (here’s the corrected bulletin).
@AP was not sure if #Hollande will or won't seek re-election. pic.twitter.com/b7wAmLRH3C
— Loris Zubanović (@LorisZubanovic) December 1, 2016
Geography, amirite?
"Margaret Ritchie is not the MP for Down South as we suggested. Nor is she the MP for Up North. Her seat is South Down" (@guardian today)
— Guardian style guide (@guardianstyle) July 21, 2016
Atlases are underrated. (Mic)
Screenshot Mic
Mr. Diller took the reporter for a ride.
This is a fine correction https://t.co/P586Qwy1L7 pic.twitter.com/fDyggpo3Zw
— John Gapper (@johngapper) January 28, 2016
Does this correction mean that Pimpin4Paradise786 is still available? (The New York Times)
Screenshot The New York Times
Can we find ourselves funny? Why yes, yes we can.
The Guardian asks that you bear with them.
Screenshot The Guardian
We hope that someone has since inquired about Corbyn’s position on a cappella groups. (Huffington Post)
Screenshot, HuffPost
Captions matter — corrections in GIF form help.
https://twitter.com/desi_renegade/status/707955050656608257
Math is tricky. (The New York Times Magazine)
https://twitter.com/raju/status/723603465684025345
Those dodgy European court cases. (The Times)
Correction of the millennium. pic.twitter.com/Yy7iaHxCnD
— Pádraig Belton (@PadraigBelton) October 28, 2016
Ted Cruz was late to endorse Donald Trump, but not because he endorsed Hillary Clinton.
CORRECTION: https://t.co/40Jby9Vxjf is NOT a site owned by Ted Cruz.
— BBC News US (@BBCNewsUS) January 29, 2016
NOT THE NEW YORKER, TOO!
The New Yorker's famous fact-checking and proof-reading system does occasionally go wrong. pic.twitter.com/ENuBRO0tIg
— Mark Colvin (@Colvinius) November 19, 2016
The weird
In an alternate reality, both Clinton and Trump will be sworn into office in January. (NPR — h/t @chrishagan)
Screenshot, NPR.org
Not sure we need to know much more about this affair.
https://twitter.com/paulmwatson/status/753573284600434688
Or this matter.
This @FT correction needs to be seen by as many people as possible pic.twitter.com/wLX5MQqN2i
— Roberto Aram Ferdman (@robferdman) May 5, 2016
Turd 2020. (The Daily Beast)
Screenshot The Daily Beast
OK then.
A previous tweet misquoted Joanna Coles's husband. He had been told "she was the rudest woman in London," but did not say so himself.
— NYT Styles 💖 (@NYTStyles) July 8, 2016
The elaborate
Some corrections are so extensive you wonder whether the story should have been published in the first place, like this New York Times correction to an obituary of a World War II pilot. (h/t @vtuss)
Screenshot The New York Times
That’s much clearer, thanks. (The Guardian)
Screenshot The Guardian
Way to take the magic out of Tetris.
Nice correction in the Guardian #Tetris article, too pic.twitter.com/bXzvalFQcV
— Joonas Linkola (@joonaslinkola) June 28, 2016
Rai News in Italy had to correct its map of the results of the country’s constitutional referendum three times over six hours before getting the names of all 20 of Italy’s regions correct.
https://twitter.com/Mantzarlis/status/805823822352023552
The revealing
Should you be downloading that widget anyway? (Wired)
Some corrections shed light on how reporters work. For instance, “the critic mistakenly watched the first two episodes out of order” seems inexcusable for a TV critic. (h/t @antoniskalog) But a colleague wrote that it’s easier than you’d think to make that mistake.
Screenshot The New York Times
Pre-writing obituaries of ailing global figures is a logical strategy for newsrooms. However, canned obituaries require close editing, which CNN’s note on how many U.S. presidents Castro outlived did not receive.
https://twitter.com/jbillinson/status/802529550303461376
Perhaps some wishful thinking in action here. (Vox)
Screenshot Vox
Poverty can be measured in both absolute and relative terms. Just ask the Financial Times.
Screenshot Financial Times
Some corrections indicate a certain band may not have been that popular with the author. (NPR)
Screenshot NPR
And then there are the corrections that say as much about the corrector as they do about the corrected. For instance:
https://twitter.com/vivianhyee/status/790937224065880067
The journalist should have gotten it right. But would you have called to ask for this correction? (Irish Times)
Good grief. I'd like to hear the conversation that led to this correction. pic.twitter.com/n2rlNes7Uu
— Alistair McConnell (@ali_mcconnell) October 1, 2016
These dog owners either have an extremely developed sense of humor, or a complete lack thereof.
I've never seen a NYT correction that so aptly captures residents of Park Slope. pic.twitter.com/mZkFUh2T99
— Bobby Allyn (@BobbyAllyn) September 25, 2016
Just a hint of imperial nostalgia in this error. (The Guardian)
Screenshot The Guardian
Photos get corrected, too.
fascinating NYT photo-ethics correction https://t.co/qNI123Fkuf pic.twitter.com/TfuQhM8eZI
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) December 14, 2016
The terrible
If you’re going to make a whole article out of a four-word quote, better get those four words right. (Politico).
POLITICO screenshot
Was “pro-terrorist” in the charity’s mission statement? (Daily Mail)
Screenshot The Daily Mail
Even big-name pundits fall for fake Twitter accounts. (h/t Claire Wardle)
A Colorado paper controversially removed on-the-record comments by a Trump campaign spokesperson, (see the original comments here).
EDITOR’S NOTE: Comments attributed to a Trump campaign spokeswoman were removed from an earlier version of this story at her request after she learned she would be identified by name.
Several Italian newspapers used a photo of an impersonator to accompany news of Bob Dylan’s Nobel prize. To this author’s knowledge, none has published a correction. (This is not infrequent, unfortunately, but usually it is breaking news stories on terrorist attacks that get wrong photos associated to them).
Screenshot La Stampa
Revising revisionism.
https://twitter.com/bornshaikh/status/801449593938460672
When dedicating an article to a presidential candidate’s foreign policy inexperience, it is helpful to have a good grip on the main cities in the region involved. Otherwise, you may end up having to correct yourself. Twice.
1. Johnson doesn't know what Aleppo is
2. NYT confuses Aleppo w/ Raqqa
3. NYT corrects, confusing Aleppo w/ Damascus pic.twitter.com/cLcuW64eEP— Alexios (@Mantzarlis) September 8, 2016
The Express in the United Kingdom ran a error-infested gallery titled “Amazing things we get back if we leave EU.” Here’s their rendition of the error, our emphasis added:
The gallery was formed of 11 images. Each image carried a caption. The captions for images 3 (eggs), 5 (jam), 6 (water) & 9 (swedes) were inaccurate. In the case of caption 3 (eggs), the caption claimed that “A dozen eggs: In 2010 the EU said that food could not be sold by number but by weight”. In 2010 the European Union was considering legislation governing food labelling. In June 2010 Renata Sommer the MEP responsible for steering the legislation confirmed ‘There will be no changes to selling food by numbers”. In fact a consumer who purchased eggs in the UK would be able to do so by number. Caption 3 (eggs) was therefore incorrect. Given that 4 of the 11 captions were incorrect this gallery has been deleted.
