How to Make Corrections and Communicate Them
As a journalist, you’re going to make mistakes. It’s not a matter of if, but rather when. This is nothing unusual – everybody and every profession will, at some point in their careers, make a mistake. But as our mistakes debut in print, this can be an intimidating point of contention for aspiring journalists.
Rather than hype the consequences for making mistakes, the job of an organization should be to have a plan in place to correct any and all errors in a timely fashion so as to not reflect poorly on itself and on the writer. Too often newsrooms allow mistakes to go undetected and then throw individual writers under the bus in retaliation, when the editor may also have not caught the mistake. That’s why a contingency plan when errors are found is important.
Correct The Error As Soon As Possible
A newsroom that runs several different publications may have an easier time catching and correcting errors as soon as possible because of the sheer amount of people involved in making every project happen. It is more likely than not that someone else within the company will catch the error and report it. However, in the event of a small newsroom with a single publication, the role of editor becomes extra important. If the error manages to slip through, the next step is…
Make The Correction Clear And Visible
Correct information is our top priority as journalists. Therefore, any corrections issued should be placed in a visible place – such as at the top of the article – and should clearly state the error and correction. Corrections that are simply changed without fanfare may make the information accurate, but readers who consumed the incorrect version of the article first may have a hard time parsing out the correction from the text since they likely only read it one or two times.
Alert The Group
Most times errors are common mistakes, and every person working in the newsroom is liable to fall victim to one or more of these common errors. Alerting the group that there’s been a correction every time one is made will destigmatize the issue, as well as get everybody on the same page and encourage questions about office practices to avoid future errors that are similar in nature. Utilize communication tools like Slack and send the updated article with the correction highlighted so that everybody receives the information in the same way and at the same time.
Make Sure The Process For Publication Is Secure
If content that hasn’t gone through editing is being used, the chance for errors is greater. Documenting which pieces have gone through editing and are ready to be published is a central step to preventing errors from reaching publication in the first place. This is the best of best practices, because with solid teamwork in place, it’s more and more unlikely that mistakes will reach publication. Editors should also communicate their edits with their writers to avoid similar mistakes in future.
Adjust The Process As Necessary
A small correction may be enough for a typo, but if the piece is editorial and/or substantively incorrect, that may not be enough. Some journalists and newsrooms have gone as far as writing a full second post to explain their faulty logic and why the article that came before was wrong.
Find What Mistakes Are Being Commonly Made
RAND, a database for fighting online disinformation, has a wealth of resources at its disposal – some of which track corrections issued by publications around the world. If you are writing a story that has been covered by other writers, checking RAND for common mistakes isn’t a bad idea.
There’s a lot of information circulating online and on television that we know to be untrue. Lies about the COVID-19 vaccine, about LGBTQ+ people, about the war in Ukraine – disinformation is a powerful force, and by doubling down on our commitment to the truth, journalists can fight those harmful waves of disinformation. With that comes owning our mistakes and correcting them.
