01-10-2011 KC STAR CORRECTIONS DOWN DRAMATICALLY IN 2010 Kansas City Star Readers' Representative Derek Donovan has written an interesting and candid column (1/9) that discusses how corrections in the print edition of the Star have dropped dramatically last year to 300 compared to 383 in 2009. It is a continuation of a downward trend in corrections at the paper. That's a major drop of about 28 percent in a single year, which might lead to people concluding the Star has become much more accurate in its reporting. That may not necessarily be the case. As Donovan noted, in 2010 the Star published 300 corrections out of 41,000 separate stories. (He did point out that photographs, captions, graphics and other informational items don’t figure into that 41,000 figure.) By comparison, 2009 saw 383 corrections out of about 46,000 stories. In a way it could be a bit of an apple and oranges comparison since with the shrinking news hole at the paper the stories were likely shorter in 2010 than in 2009. A fairer comparison might be to examine total editorial column inches from one year versus another. As usual, Donovan is honest in admitting that newspaper corrections are not the end all, be all for accuracy. He noted that some readers do not report errors, and some errors are much more significant than others. From a media relations standpoint, smart public relations practitioners are very hesitant to ask/demand a correction for wrong information wrong about a client in the newspaper, particularly if the error is not a major one. The reality of corrections is that not only do they make the reporter look bad to his/her superiors, but corrections are often used to determine evaluations, pay raises---and even whether a reporter will keep his/her job. If you want to develop an ongoing reporter relationship demanding corrections is not the way to go about it. Think long and hard before deciding to contact an editor for a correction.
01-11-2011 INDICTMENT OF EDITORS "Newspaper corrections not only indict reporters but editors as well. The problem is the culture of news management and one solution I offer is to present stories that are more simple with fewer elements. That should not be hard considering the limited space they have available. It also applies to broadcast media as well. The problem is mainstream media tries to outdo itself and its competition." -----Scott Simon, St. Louis
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