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May 9, 2007

Dear AP Sounding Board members,

Eleven newspapers responded to our survey on corrections, including placement in the newspaper, types and frequency of mistakes and how errors are brought to the attention of editors.

Most panelists said they print corrections on A2. Errors typically involve factual points (spelling of proper names, wrong date, etc.), and some differentiate between factual errors and omissions or interpretive issues. Several specify if the mistake came from an official source.

Annual corrections are mostly holding steady, the majority said, although several reported decreases this year or last year.

Most mistakes are reported in phone calls, and e-mail is used increasingly. Few requests come by letter.

AP's use of CORRECTIVE (factual) or CLARIFICATION (omission or interpretive) for fix out-of-cycle errors is widely accepted. Mistakes in "live" AP stories are corrected in writethrus with an editor's note calling attention to the change.

The survey, including full responses, is posted at the Sounding Board link. Many thanks for participating.

— Dave Minthorn

The questions:

1. Where and how do you publish corrections: Front page, or inside on a designated page? In bunches? Or as they occur?

2. In labeling and phrasing corrections, do you differentiate among types of errors – i.e., factual, interpretive or omission of a detail? What's the most common type of error?

3. Annually, are your published correctives up, down or relatively steady? Numbers?

4. What's the impact of e-mail and Online access on readers contacting you about errors? Or do you still get most such requests by traditional mail or by phone?

5. AP transmits "corrective" (for a factual error) and a "clarifications" (for an omission) to fix stories from previous news cycles. Live stories are fixed in-cycle with "corrections" listed in the story header – with a floating advisory to point out major changes. Any comments on this practice?

Dick Moss, director of local content/nights, Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle:

1. We publish corrections on Page 2A as they occur and as we confirm that the information does need correcting.

2. Yes, we try to be as clear as possible, without assigning blame, in writing our corrections. The most common errors are detail factual errors – name misspelled, wrong address, wrong date, etc.

3. We've been tracking corrections monthly since 1999. Our numbers are down this year since last year, but over the years the total has fluctuated considerably. We publish on average 1.25 a day over the course of a year, about 40 a month.

4. It has made it somewhat easier for readers to alert us to errors. We hardly ever get any by snail mail. They are almost all phone calls, with a small percentage of e-mails.

5. No, it works fine for us.

Debbie Kornmiller, reader advocate, Arizona Daily Star, Tucson:

1. The Arizona Daily Star publishes corrections on Page A2, underneath the Contact US information and as they occur. When an error comes to light, we correct immediately online instead of waiting for the next print publication cycle.

2. We do not differentiate, per se. The nuance should be apparent. Our most common type of error is a wrong fact and accounts for half of all errors made this year.

3. The Star's numbers are down dramatically over 2006. We are on track to have the best year since we began tracking errors in a database in 2001. We correct all errors, even in high-school sports agate. We do not correct weather page or TV programming in TV Week or in the grids on the daily TV listings page.

As of April 29 we're at 201 errors correction on A2 or on A2 of the zones. On April 29 of 2006 we were at 295.

Where we were on April 1 in tracked years:

2001 – 188

2002 – 175

2003 – 218

2004 – 216

2005 – 180

2006 – 222

2007 – 155

(What we are correcting is one wire service/syndicate error a week for all combined. What we're including in the count is sports agate and roundups and as well.)

4. Errors are pointed out through email and phone calls. Traditional mail has never been a significant source for correction requests.

5. What we are correcting is one wire service/syndicate error a week for all combined. What we're including in the count is sports agate and roundups and as well.

I'm curious about AP's error rate. Last year we ran 37 corrections on AP stories. So far this year the number is 6. Does this apparent improvement reflect a concentrated internal efforts?

AP's response: We have seen a noticeable decline in state bureau correctives in the first four months of 2007, compared to the same period last year. We hope this is due to increased vigilance and discussion, which we're emphasizing.

Tom Eblen, managing editor, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader:

1. We publish all corrections on the front of our City & Region section.

2. We distinguish between "corrections" (factual errors) and "clarifications." Factual errors are most common.

3. Relatively steady.

4. Most correction requests come by phone and, increasingly email. I think the ease of email has made it more likely readers will point out errors that need correcting, which is a good thing.

5. Works for us.

Kevin Whitmer, managing editor, enterprise, The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.:

1. All corrections appear on A-2 and run as soon as we're satisfied we have a complete picture of how the mistake was made and what we should have written. In some instances we also will publish something in the space where the original mistake was made.

2. We make a point to note when the mistake results from incorrect information being supplied. Otherwise, most of ours are factual.

3. We ran 605 corrections last year, which is in line with past totals.

4. We know about most of our mistakes within hours of publishing – whether it's online or in print. This, of course, allows us to correct the mistakes as quickly as possible.

5. As always, we'd just encourage repeats throughout the day so it's certain to hit the editor who pulled and moved the item in question.

Rina Miller, nation/world editor, The Ann Arbor (Mich.) News:

1. Page A2, as they occur.

2. Errors of fact; some are writer error, others are submission errors.

3. (no response)

4. Phone calls and e-mails are handled by respective editors/writers; online errors handled by M-Live or forwarded by staff to M-Live.

5. The in-cycle corrections are helpful.

Steve Brody, wire editor, Lancaster (Pa.) New Era:

1. In the A section, no designated page, as they occur.

2. All appear under CORRECTIONS bug. The most common type of error is simply factual. Errors of omission or interpretation are very rare.

3. Not sure, but probably steady.

4. The editor and news editor often receive word from readers via e-mail; the rest of us, by phone.

5. (No response)

Bill Rose, managing editor, The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post:

1. We publish corrections at the bottom of page 2A under the Corrections & Clarifications headline. We correct them as quickly as we can. We do not save them to run in bunches, though some days we have so many it may seem we PLANNED to embarrass ourselves! Front page corrections are EXTREMELY rare, though we have published them when the facts warrant.

2. We label errors as reporting errors or editing errors. If it was an error of ommission, we note that within the correction. @e correct all significant factual errors.

3. Generally, they are about the same from year to year, give or take a few. We did have a spike upward a few years ago. In 2006, we published 435 corrections, compared with the 428 we published in 2005. Fortunately, we still are well below the 518 corrections we ran in 2001.

4. We get a good number of correction requests by email and a good number by phone. The number of phone requests has declined slightly over the last 3 years because the number of email requests increased. We still get most correction requests over the phone.

5. That practice is clear to me. I have no problems with it.

Ken Tuck, managing editor, Dothan (Ala.) Eagle:

1. We anchor our corrections on page 2A. We have a correction policy that runs daily on 2A and when mistakes happen that's where they go, along with our policy.

2. Yes. For example, some are labeled "corrections" and some "clarifications" when there has been an omission of a detail. There really isn't a "most common type of error."

3. Last year our numbers were down by around 10-15 percent.

4. Most are still by phone, but e-mail is on the rise.

5. This practice seems to be working fine.

Scott Angus, editor, The Janesville (Wis.) Gazette:

1. We publish all corrections as soon as possible in a regular column at the bottom of our local cover, 1B.

2. We differentiate only in explaining the error and providing the correction. Factual errors are by far the most common, followed by omission.

3. Don't know number, but I presume they are steady.

4. More and more of the notes pointing out errors and/or asking for corrections come by e-mail. We probably get more electronically now than by any other means, although we still get them by traditional mail and phone.

5. This works well for us.

Jana Collier, managing editor, The Dayton (Ohio) Daily News:

1. We publish on Page A2 in a designated place, and we publish as soon as we are aware of the error.

2. We do not typically differentiate between types of errors, though occasionally we label things as "clarifications" rather than corrections.

3. About the same.

4. Most come by phone or e-mail. Even when we get an e-mail, we actually talk to someone before we run a correction.

5. No.

Jim Bebbington, managing editor, Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun:

1. We publish as they occur on 2A. We would consider a front-page correction but only for an error of major significance; there have been no examples in memory of this.

2. Our style is to state that an error has occurred and that the correct information should have been such-and-such. Our most common type of error is factual.

4. Primarily by phone; some e-mail.

5. It appears to be working well.

Dave Minthorn, manager, AP News Administration, coordinates the questions and answers. Newspaper editors wishing to suggest a topic can send an e-mail to Minthorn at dminthorn@ap.org.

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