Bill Bowen was off by only four letters.

“We need more journalists who will bleed over their mistakes and who are willing to make amends.”1 Phil Record Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The education reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote a short item directing residents of a suburban neighborhood to a school board meeting the next night at Parkview Elementary School. The next morning, he realized he’d gotten it wrong: The meeting would be at Park Glen Elementary.

The Star-Telegram could publish a correction the next day. But that would be too late for people who relied on the newspaper to get there.

So that evening in 1996 found Bowen at Parkview (the wrong place) handing out printed directions to people who arrived looking for the meeting at Park Glen (the right place), a few blocks away.

Bowen had made a mistake a smart journalist makes only once: He relied on memory when he could have checked his notes.

That evening, he offered apologies and sent about 10 misinformed people to Park Glen. Later, the audience at the school board meeting gave him a round of applause.

“I felt lucky there was a way I could help correct it even though it was outside the news pages,” Bowen said. “It didn’t seem like a lot of effort.”

Public View A 1998 survey for ASNE of 3,000 Americans found newspaper accuracy is important to public trust: 73 percent of the public has become more skeptical about the accuracy of the news. 68 percent think newspapers run a lot of stories without checking them just because other papers have published them, not because they know they’re true. 35 percent see spelling or grammar mistakes in the newspaper more than once a week; 21 percent see them almost daily. 25 percent see factual errors a few times a month; another 23 percent see them more than once a week. 63 percent feel better about the quality of news coverage when they see corrections in the newspaper; only 8 percent feel worse.5

The reporter recognized a fundamental compact between journalists and the public: We try to get things right, and when we goof up, we’ll let you know as quickly and as honestly as we can.

The public doesn’t see newspapers, or other media, living up to that compact.

In a 1998 national survey for the Journalism Credibility Project, Urban & Associates found that nearly half of the public sees factual errors in their newspapers at least a few times a month. More than half noticed mistakes in spelling or grammar at least a few times a month.

“Each misspelled word, bad apostrophe, garbled grammatical construction, weird cutline and mislabeled map erodes public confidence in a newspaper’s ability to get anything right,” the report said.2

People also draw broad conclusions from factual mistakes. They may even ascribe motives.

“Even seemingly small errors feed public skepticism about a newspaper’s credibility,” said Christine Urban, president of Urban & Associates.3

Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel of the Project for Excellence in Journalism list verification as one of nine elements of journalism.

“The essence of journalism is a discipline of verification.

“In the end, the discipline of verification is what separates journalism from other forms of communication — from entertainment, propaganda, fiction or art. … Journalism alone is focused first on getting it right.”4

No wonder members of the public are likely be skeptical of a newspaper’s broad commitment to the discipline of verification if they regularly see grammatical or factual errors in print.

Of course, newspapers will always contain errors.

They inevitably happen when a new employee arrives or someone in the newsroom takes on a new assignment. Or when the newspaper undergoes design or content changes. Or when news breaks out all over the place. Or when developments require new expertise — a war in a faraway place, a technological or scientific advancement, a new fad or trend — which is all the time.

But inevitability doesn’t account for every mistake. Errors also happen when newsroom staff members don’t have the training and resources they need to get it right. Or when staff members do not fully understand their responsibilities. Or when the copy desk is too overloaded to catch it all. Or when top editors don’t stress accuracy as a priority and spell out expectations. Then a fundamental value of journalism may be run over by the pressure to produce.

The public holds the newspaper responsible for errors no matter what the reason. After all, the job of the journalist is to gather and verify information, not simply to pass it along without scrutiny.

The public has high expectations for newspaper accuracy. This is good news.

Nancy Conner, former reader advocate at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, recounted this exchange with a quality control officer who reads her newspaper:

“There are as many reasons for these errors as there are occasions: sloppiness, mishearing, misstatement, mischief. But the reader of the news does not care about reasons anymore than the driver of a new automobile cares why his door handle came loose. Error is the journalist’s responsibility, regardless of the cause.”8 Jack Fuller Tribune Publishing CO.

He “chastised us for failing to achieve the consistent quality that his department does, day in and day out.”

“Even after listening to me describe how our product has thousands of different parts every day, unlike his company’s output of identical computer diskettes or Post-it notes, he maintained we could achieve a much higher quality level.

“Maybe that’s a compliment — that readers still have faith that we could.”6

Research for the Journalism Credibility Project as well as anecdotal evidence indicates most readers appreciate newspaper efforts to set the record straight.

“I think everyone agrees the emphasis on a higher profile for corrections … is good for our credibility, even if it hurts a little,” said Bob Stover, managing editor of Florida Today.

Failing to be forthright in corrections doesn’t fool people; they notice errors in the newspaper. Acknowledging errors demonstrates accountability, and that does help.

A second Journalism Credibility Project report, published in 2000, summed up public attitudes: “Errors can be forgiven, but confession is required.”7

Admitting more mistakes also is a good foundation for improving accuracy. Editors who embark on accuracy initiatives need to make sure that their staffs are acknowledging more of their errors.

This can be a significant change. Many newsrooms tend to excuse mistakes by tying them to difficult time and production pressures or, worse, by blaming them on the source. Or the staff may acknowledge a mistake only when a member of the public notices and takes the trouble to point it out.

QUESTIONS

How does your newsroom measure up on accuracy?

What are your weak points?

What are your strengths?

What kinds of errors typically merit corrections in your newspaper?

Are certain types of errors left uncorrected? Which ones?

How often do you and your staff discuss standards and best practices for accuracy?

The newsroom’s willingness to participate will depend largely on how top editors introduce and implement the initiative. While some editors have found that punitive measures must accompany a pattern of mistakes, others say the effective initiative stresses improvement and education.

George Langford, who coordinated the Chicago Tribune’s accuracy efforts as public editor from 1994 until 2000, cites these priorities:

“One is have an error policy in place that is administered fairly and firmly,” he said. “The error policy is also linked to internal training so that we can create programs to correct trends.

“Two, and less concrete but perhaps more effective, is a collective decision-making, policy-making philosophy. What this looks like is involving as many folks as practical to discuss issues, individual stories, series, policy, guidelines, etc. Sometimes these are done formally but more often informally.”

GETTING STARTED

How do you improve factual accuracy at your newspaper? These are key ingredients:

Correct early and often

“Print corrections promptly, gladly (in good spirit), and often. More than any other single item, I believe prompt corrections of wrong facts convince readers the paper is serious about getting things right.” Sanders LaMont The Sacramento Bee

Set high standards for accuracy and show you are committed by publishing corrections of seemingly trivial errors as well as serious ones. And go beyond simple errors of fact. The public deserves an explanation — and sometimes an apology — if a story leaves out an important detail, overstates the news or makes assertions that are not supported by the facts. Clearly label corrections, explanations and apologies and play them prominently and in a timely fashion.

Invite readers to call

Set up a central place for people to call when they spot errors in the newspaper and make sure the staff follows up. A person who complains and then does not see a result — either a correction or a direct explanation when the staff decides none is warranted — is left to assume the newspaper isn’t really serious about accuracy.

Focus on improvement

Ask staff members to explain an error and discuss how to avoid a similar one in the future. Some editors impose punitive measures. But many tread lightly, at least at first, because they do not want staff fears to suppress reporting of errors by the staff. Recognize that a willingness to acknowledge errors probably will not reduce the number of corrections — at least initially. But it is an essential step in identifying areas where the newspaper can improve.

Identify patterns

A significant number of errors result from people simply not paying attention at a key moment. These errors can be reduced but probably not eliminated. More promising are efforts to clarify duties, provide training or improve systems in ways that will reduce the chances that errors will occur every day. Solutions may be as small as developing a standard protocol for checking telephone numbers or as large as shifting one more copy editor to an overburdened desk. You will need staff support to create a system that will last. You’ll also need staff advice: Staff members are your best experts on systemic problems, training needs and techniques for improving accuracy.

MOVING FROM PHILOSOPHY TO PRACTICE

CORRECT EARLY AND OFTEN

See Discussion Guide 7

TIPS Here are style guidelines for writing a correction: Acknowledge the error. Emphasize the accurate information. It’s often unnecessary to repeat the incorrect information; do that only when needed for clarity. Include the date the story was published and the page on which it appeared. Summarize the original item clearly; don’t make a reader pause to figure out what story the correc-tion is referring to. Don’t play the blame game (A). Readers don’t necessarily care whether a reporter or an editor or a machine made the error. The newspaper erred. Don’t play the blame game (B). If a wire service, syndicate or local source gave you incorrect information, the correction may explain that. But do so sparingly. More careful reporting and editing in your own shop can prevent some errors that start with sources.

Journalists tend to be generous with well-intentioned statements about accuracy. But lofty standards won’t mean much to people who read the newspaper unless it meets those standards or sets the record straight when it fails.

Editors need to be aggressive about making correctionsand clear about their standards for accuracy with their staffs and their readers alike.

In setting standards for accuracy and for corrections, consider the types of errors readers report as well as those the staff and sources identify.

Take the time at the beginning to discuss typical errors with staff and make clear which will merit corrections.

Some newspapers have lowered the threshold for publishing corrections to include even small factual errors. Most newspapers do not, however, correct misspellings, grammatical errors or typos that they consider obvious.

“The benefit of the doubt goes to the subject of the story who feels misrepresented, even if we find the claim weak but not necessarily wrong,” said Dan Hortsch, public editor at The Oregonian. “We often correct minor errors that reflect on our credibility, even if they are unlikely to trip up the reader.”

Define what an error is

Be as consistent as possible. Typically, different editors in different sections make decisions about corrections; that’s the most practical way to handle it. But it may be hard to keep decision-making uniform.

QUESTIONS

It's important to clarify standards for publishing corrections and clarifications. Will you correct:

Only errors of substance? How will you define "substance"?

All errors of fact? Even ones that seem obvious?

A misspelling? Even if it's obvious?

An incorrect headline or caption with a story that contains correct information?

Grammatical errors? Typos?

Information about events already past?

It will help to discuss errors and corrections in daily news meetings with the dual aim of advising editors of potential pitfalls and building consensus on when to correct.

It also helps to have a top editor review cases — and play devil’s advocate in favor of a correction — any time the staff members directly involved have decided not to publish one. At The Oregonian, for example, Editor Sandy Rowe decided in 1996 that the newspaper’s public editor would have authority to overrule the decision of any editor, including Rowe herself, not to publish a correction. The result was that staff members brought the public editor into the discussions early on and corrections were published more often when it was a close call. Because the discussion took place early, before positions became fixed, the public editor seldom had to overrule anyone.

More resources at this link

“(Readers used to) see high profile mistakes, low profile corrections. Now, in most instances, it is the reverse: low profile mistakes; high profile corrections.” Barry Locher State Journal-Register

Timeliness matters

It is important that all corrections be timely. Some newspapers try to publish any necessary correction in the next edition after an error is discovered; others ask staff to respond to a report of an error within a set time, such as the same day or within 48 hours. Some newspapers designate a staff member, often the public editor or ombudsman, to monitor corrections every day and make sure they get attention on even the busiest news days.

Give corrections prominence

Some newspapers publish corrections on section covers. For example, The Gazette in Colorado Springs puts them on the cover of the local news section.

The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Ill., publishes corrections on section covers, including Page One, even if the error appeared inside the section.

Readers used to “see high profile mistakes, low profile corrections,” Editor Barry Locher said, “Now, in most instances, it is the reverse: low profile mistakes; high profile corrections.”

The newspaper had been publishing corrections inside the local news section. But without any special design treatment, Locher said, they were “hidden in a sea of type.”

“For those people who were ‘victims’ of our mistakes, this approach was infuriating.”

Locher agrees any vigorous corrections effort probably will result in the newspaper publishing more corrections or looking at least as if it is making more mistakes. But, he said, it is worth it.

“Readers have told us they appreciate this high-profile approach to setting the record straight,” he said. “We correct even the smallest, and sometimes arguably insignificant, misinformation. However, we spend a great deal of time conditioning readers to trust the information we publish. This approach to corrections underscores the fact that, indeed, our material can be trusted to be correct.”

If you publish corrections inside the paper, be sure to anchor them in the same spot every day. Label them and set them off in the page display. Newspapers typically publish their corrections on Page A2 or A3 with a good-sized “Corrections” label at the top.

Starting over

Beyond a short correction

See Discussion Guide 10

See Discussion Guide 11

Sometimes, a short, routine correction cannot undo the damage of a mistake.

An editor’s or ombudsman’s column may provide one prominent way to set the record straight, especially if it’s an error that requires some explanation.

One noteworthy example is The New York Times report to readers on its review of its controversial coverage of spy accusations against Wen Ho Lee. After a massive federal investigation of espionage charges, the Los Alamos scientist was allowed to plead guilty to a single count of mishandling classified information, amid accusations that the government and the press had overreacted.

The explanation, published Sept. 26, 2000, and titled “From the editors,” included this summary of The Times editors’ findings:

“As a rule, we prefer to let our reporting speak for itself. In this extraordinary case, the outcome of the prosecution and the accusations leveled at this newspaper may have left many readers with questions about our coverage. That confusion — and the stakes involved, a man’s liberty and reputation — convince us that a public accounting is warranted.

“In the days since the prosecution ended, the paper has looked back at the coverage. On the whole, we remain proud of work that brought into the open a major national security problem of which officials had been aware for months, even years. Our review found careful reporting that included extensive cross-checking and vetting of multiple sources, despite enormous obstacles of official secrecy and government efforts to identify The Times’ sources. We found articles that accurately portrayed a debate behind the scenes on the extent and importance of Chinese espionage — a debate that now, a year and a half later, is still going on. We found clear, precise explanations of complex science.

“But looking back, we also found some things we wish we had done differently in the course of the coverage to give Dr. Lee the full benefit of the doubt. In those months, we could have pushed harder to uncover weaknesses in the F.B.I. case against Dr. Lee. Our coverage would have been strengthened had we moved faster to assess the scientific, technical and investigative assumptions that led the F.B.I. and the Department of Energy to connect Dr. Lee to what is still widely acknowledged to have been a major security breach.”9

Some criticized The Times for not going far enough in acknowledging shortcomings in the coverage, while others lauded the newspaper’s candor. Whether or not it went far enough, The Times statement represented a significant and positive addition to the coverage of Wen Ho Lee — the newspaper’s coverage had become part of the story, and it gave information that would help people evaluate its credibility.

The Tribune’s approach to the error accomplished something a routine correction could not: It prominently acknowledged the mistake, and it recognized the success of a local school the way the first story should have.

Common Errors

INVITE READERS TO CALL

TIPS Ask readers for help in accuracy efforts, and make it easy for them to report the mistakes they spot by: Publishing the newspaper’s correction guidelines every day along with any corrections. Providing a central phone number and e-mail address where readers can report errors and designating a project with a Page One Sunday column describing the initiative and inviting readers to report errors to a reader advocate. Publishing periodic updates on progress in improving accuracy.

As long as people are reading newspapers, they will find errors. Discouraging as that can be, encourage it. Readers may be the best allies in getting a handle on accuracy: Invite them to report errors.

In 1999, Diane McFarlin, then executive editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, launched that newspaper’s accuracy initiative for ASNE’s Journalism Credibility Project with a column asking readers to report errors.

“Our intent is to correct mistakes promptly and prominently,” McFarlin, who became publisher later that year, told readers. “We’ve always had this policy, but we suspect that we’ve missed a lot of errors because people hesitate to point them out.

“Please don’t hesitate. We want to know.”13

McFarlin and her staff also provide follow-up: A member of the newsroom staff each week rotates duty as reader advocate. Contact information for the advocate is published daily on page A2, along with the newspaper’s correction policy. In addition to corrections published during the week, the reader advocate summarizes reader comments in a weekly column on A2.

Ask the readers

Editors also seek feedback on accuracy by sending questionnaires to people who have been featured or quoted in the newspaper.

QUESTIONS

What are the goals of your accuracy effort?

What do you hope to accomplish in the first six months?

Who on the staff should be involved in planning it?

What areas will you target for improvement?

How will you encourage staff members to report errors and be aggressive in correcting them?

What fears are staff members likely to raise? How will you address them?

How will you track the progress and report it to the staff?

How will you let your readers know about your efforts?

The Star Tribune in Minneapolis, for example, sends out six to eight questionnaires about five times per week. Lou Gelfand, the news- paper’s reader representative, summarizes comments in regular reports to the staff.

More resources at this link

Gelfand said he is particularly gratified when people write back: “I’ve never before (been) asked by the media about how I felt regarding the coverage.”

Here’s a sampling of comments the Star Tribune received in May 2000:

“This article was so well done. It was accurate in both facts and also telling about me and my family and what we were like.”

“I was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy and completeness. It could NOT have been the best photo, but I guess I can live with that. Thank you.”

“More background on the project was needed to balance the article. It assumes the public knew about the project. … The article was skewed toward the opposition to the project. There were no quotes from supporters of the project.”

“This is the first time that I have ever been quoted saying blah, blah, blah. That was exactly what I said, so I guess I have to be more careful. Even … would have been preferable to me, but this is a very small point.”

Managing Editor Pam Fine also reviews the questionnaires. Fine said they augment other efforts to get feedback, such as the full-time reader representative.

“The good news is it seems to deal 98 percent in positives,” Fine said. “It’s another way to get feedback. I look for anything really egregious and/or patterns.”

The Gazette in Coloado Springs invites readers to call about their "Accuracy Watch" on the cover of the local news section.

FOCUS ON IMPROVEMENT

Acknowledging errors in print goes hand in hand with creating a newsroom culture in which the staff is willing to discuss errors openly and work on improvements.

“Don’t make it a gotcha exercise. You’re looking at a system. There will be times when an individual pops up. Often it’s one of your best people, someone who is overloaded.” George Langford Chicago Tribune

This formula for long-term improvement won’t necessarily reduce the number of corrections right away. Some newspapers have found their correction totals rose significantly before they started to fall.

“The name of the game is not necessarily to reduce errors. It’s to do better work,” said Margaret Holt, customer service editor at the Chicago Tribune.

A year after Florida Today launched a major accuracy initiative for the Journalism Credibility Project, Managing Editor Stover said “The number of corrections has gone up. We believe this is because of more stringent demands in this area, rather than actually being more error prone.”

Key to any effort to increase accuracy is to put front and center in the newsroom the question: What can each of us do to avoid making a similar mistake next time?

“Don’t make it a gotcha exercise,” said Langford of the Chicago Tribune. “You’re looking at a system. There will be times when an individual pops up. Often it’s one of your best people, someone who is overloaded.”

Ask for explanations

Some editors ask staff members to respond to this question on a form; others rely on a short, written explanation or a face-to-face meeting.

What’s important is getting the person who made the error — and perhaps others who could have caught it along the way — to pause for a moment and consider: If I had it to do over again, what would my reporting/editing look like?

Cathy Martindale, executive editor of the Amarillo (Texas) Globe-News, requires a short note of explanation from a reporter or editor who makes an error.

QUESTIONS

What checklists might help clarify staff responsibilities and expectations for accuracy?

What training does your staff need to improve accuracy?

What systemic changes or shifts in resources should you consider to bolster staff efforts?

How can you improve accountablity for errors in your newsroom?

Here’s one note from 1999: “I had an error in a Jars of Clay story that ran Sept. 30. I mistakenly said the concert would be on a Saturday when it was actually on a Friday. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I believe I looked at the calendar wrong when I was writing the story. Since that time, I’ve made sure to green-note dates to make sure I get them right.”

GATHERING DATA Collecting information on errors may help identify patterns the newsroom can address. Here are some things to note in recording errors: The source of the error: reporting, editing, source, wire service. The type of item that contained the error: story, listing or calendar, caption, graphic, headline. Who reported the error: public, sources, experts, staff. Where are errors appearing: section, team or department, edition.

“The purpose was to make the person stop and think for a moment about what happened,” Martindale said. “Often, it’s as simple as being in a hurry and failing to reread a story before sending it to the desk. The person becomes more aware of this and makes it his or her goal to take those few extra seconds to double-check.”

Martindale said the notes help point out patterns. For example, editors noticed one reporter kept misspelling names of people he interviewed on the phone. Martindale said it turned out he had a hearing loss; once he dealt with it, the errors declined.

Track errors

More resources at this link

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Chicago Tribune are among newspapers that ask staff members to fill out forms reporting an error and explaining how it happened. These newspapers also use information from the forms in a database designed to identify patterns of errors.

The person who originated the error typically writes the correction and fills out the form explaining how the error occurred and how it might be avoided. The Star-Telegram also asks others who worked on the story, including copy editors, to assess whether they could have done more to prevent it.

A simple computer database program is an efficient way tokeep track of errors. Over time, patterns should emerge to guide efforts to improve. Some editors forgo the computer database and design simpler tracking systems.

Brian Cooper, executive editor at the Telegraph Herald in Dubuque, Iowa, began publishing corrections on the front page Jan. 1, 2000. A year earlier, the newspaper started requiring staff members to fill out a form explaining errors.

Cooper logs the forms and assigns each error a grade based on seriousness:

• “A” for serious errors (libelous or those that could cause significant inconvenience to readers, such as wrong date or time for an event).
• “C” for “minor items” that pose no legal or convenience issues (generally published to placate the person who called the error to the paper’s attention).
• “B” for everything in between.

Most editors who track errors make regular reports to their staffs, highlighting progress and key problems.

Cooper also reports annually to readers with a column that “presents the statistics, discusses the corrections program and restates why the paper does what it does to improve the paper’s credibility.”

Anticipate staff resistance

A formal reporting system is likely to encounter resistance in the newsroom, largely out of fears that a single error might prompt disciplinary action or that a record of an error will linger in a personnel file for years.

“When a name is misspelled by a reporter, copy editor, photographer, the staffer responsible must call the individual and apologize. This is a bit humbling to the staff member but hopefully reinforces the need for accuracy. It also is received positively from the individual who has been affected.” Pat Walker Bucks County Courier Times

At the Chicago Tribune, someone posted “Nazi” signs in the newsroom as the accuracy initiative got under way in the mid-1990s, Langford said.

“We were pretty worried about it. There were fears it would be held against people. But to my knowledge, I don’t think that has ever happened,” said Bill Hageman, a reporter who helped critique proposed guidelines before they took effect.

At the Chicago Tribune, a correction form may go into a staff member’s file for more discussion. Other newspapers review error forms during annual evaluations.

At the Savannah Morning News, a staff member who causes four corrections in a calendar year faces a one-day suspension without pay, said Executive Editor Rexanna Keller Lester.

Some newspapers also use rewards. At the Chicago Tribune, for example, some manager bonuses are tied to reducing errors, Langford said.

The Bucks County (Pa.) Courier Times uses a carrot-and-stick approach, according to Pat Walker, executive editor.

“Our managing editor tracks errors and keeps a count of the number of corrections we run. When we have a month with the lowest number of corrections, we reward the staff with pizza or bagels or something,” Walker said.

“When a name is misspelled by a reporter, copy editor, photographer, the staffer responsible must call the individual and apologize,” Walker said. “This is a bit humbling to the staff member but hopefully reinforces the need for accuracy. It also is received positively from the individual who has been affected.”

IDENTIFY PATTERNS

More resources at this link

Improvement efforts should start by addressing common patterns, whether they are newsroomwide, involve a particular team or department or just one staff member. Most of it is just plain basics.

In a review of four months of corrections in 2000 at The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, according to Managing Editor John Bartosek, editors found “85 percent of them were preventable if we’d been more careful. We were surprised to find nearly a third of them involved something as basic as the correct names of people, places and things. Another quarter of them happened when we did not follow procedures, such as checking with reporters on rewrites and cq’ing addresses, dates and phone numbers.”

Clarify procedures

For example, if you are seeing a lot of caption errors that originate in the news gathering phase, you may want to work with the photo staff on correct procedures. If you are seeing a lot of errors introduced in stories by line editors, you may want to make sure editors are showing reporters changes in their copy whenever possible. If there are a lot of errors in your weekly arts calendar agate, you may be receiving sloppy press releases or you may need to add a compiler on production day.

RESOURCES Frank Fee, assistant professor of journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has compiled a useful list of common sources of journalist error. Find the list online at oak.cats.ohiou.edu/ ~feef/44tips.htm

Clarify who is responsible for what. For example, you may find reporters think copy editors are checking obscure or technical terms when it’s not always possible at night and on deadline.

Start with a problem that seems to have potential for success, and tailor the solution to the problem.

For example, if telephone numbers are misprinted throughout your newspaper, you probably will find that you need to develop or revive a checking protocol for the entire staff. You may find that reporters think copy editors are checking telephone numbers and vice versa. A good practice is to require the reporter to call the telephone number after it is typed into the computer and to get a person to verify the number and confirm that it is OK for publication. Some newspapers require that the assigning editor make a second check. It’s a bad idea to let this wait for the copy desk, as business numbers often are difficult to verify at night.

Or you may have one reporter who consistently misspells names. Ask the reporter’s supervisor to break down his or her reporting process step by step. Chances are, you will find something missing. Perhaps the reporter isn’t spelling it back. Perhaps the reporter is overly reliant on spellings that appear on agendas.

San Jose Mercury News Checklist

No excuse for mathaphobia

MATH FOR JOURNALISTS Philip Meyer, Knight chair in journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, recommends these books for journalists who want to get serious about math: “The Economist Numbers Guide: the Essentials of Business Numeracy,” Richard Stutely. “Say It with Figures,” Hans Zeisal. “News & Numbers,” Victor Cohn. “Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics,” Neil J. Salkind. Meyer’s own “The New Precision Journalism” is temporarily out of print but available in full on the Web at: www.unc. edu/~pmeyer/book/.

In between, you may find a mix of strengths and weaknesses across teams or departments. For example, reporters and editors who cover health and science or demographics may be capable at math. Some reporters who cover local government, including budgets, may not. Put them together to identify common problems and protocols, develop math instruction that is targeted to specific and common problems, and work to counter the attitude that mathaphobia is an acceptable part of newsroom culture.

Math problems are likely to fall into three broad categories:

• Carelessness with numbers and sloppy arithmetic. One fix is to ask staff members to do their math on a spreadsheet program, rather than on a calculator. That way they can easily recheck the numbers they have punched in as well as their math formula.
• Ignorance of basic formulas, such as for figuring percentages. Ask a knowledgeable staff member to develop simple handouts showing how to do common math problems and giving examples of how to apply formulas. Teach one formula at a time.
• Ignorance of basic statistics, which can lead to exaggerations of the significance of trends or new developments. Again, handouts covering such basics as standard deviation and margin of sampling error will help.

Staff members can help

Editors who have mounted significant accuracy efforts emphasize the need to consult the staff.

In 1998, senior editors at the St. Paul Pioneer Press asked a committee of 10 that included reporters, copy editors, a news editor, a photographer and one senior editor to look at how the newsroom could improve accuracy.

Casey Selix, an arts and culture reporter who was a member of the team, thinks staff involvement gave the process credibility in the newsroom and made the work more meaningful.

“You have people from different realms saying, ‘This will work,’ “ said Selix, who also has worked as a line editor and a copy editor. “Everybody got a chance to share how he or she did their job. It was a real eye-opener. None of us was really aware of what all the other person did in the process. We really broke it down. We went to the nitty gritty.”

The team, in a yearlong effort, created a 22-page “How-to Guide” that mixes accuracy tips with descriptions of routine procedures for all major jobs in the newsroom.

Use checklists

More resources at this link

“In general, our attention to issues of accuracy has had a benefit in simply refocusing us a bit on one of the most important and basic fundamentals of journalism. It is easy to allow such fundamentals to become too routine, and that’s when a great many mistakes happen.” Peter Bhatia The Oregonian

Checklists are convenient and effective tools for improvingaccuracy at various stages of the reporting and editing process. They remind staffers of the basics, and they separate accuracy checks from other reviews of the story, making it less likely the accuracy check will become incidental.

In addition to an accuracy checklist for editors and reporters, The News-Times in Danbury, Conn., has developed a checklist for proofing pages. It asks editors to look at various aspects of display type, photos, graphics and layout.

Editor Paul Steinmetz said a 10-year focus on accuracy, including the checklists, has cut the rate of corrections from about one a day to eight to 10 a month.

“We have more confidence in our stories and pages, because we know we have followed the basic guidelines to produce clean, accurate copy.” Steinmetz said.

Pay attention to captions

The St. Petersburg Times photo department focused on accuracy in caption information reported by photographers and saw significant improvement.

"How To" at the St. Paul Pioneer Press

“Basically among the photographers, the atmosphere was turned from one of ‘Hey you’re just a photographer’ to ‘You’re a photojournalist and just as reporters are expected to take notes and get things right, so are photo journalists,’” said Anne Glover, assistant managing editor/copy desks. “If you put a name in a caption and you put a cq on it, cq should mean something.”

Photographers go directly to the person photographed for information rather than relying on the program or another source. When the direct source isn’t available, photographers note the secondary source in the caption information. When errors occur, a deputy photo editor backtracks immediately, looking at how the error occurred and whether the photographer needs to improve his or her reporting techniques.

She said editors often find the photographer has the spellings of names and other information right when the reporter on the story doesn’t.

“Within the past couple of years, we have been able to head off hundreds — literally hundreds — of mistakes with names because of the photog getting it right.” Anne Glover St. Petersburg Times

“Within the past couple of years, we have been able to head off hundreds — literally hundreds — of mistakes with names,” Glover said, “because of the photog getting it right.”

The photo department’s effort has raised its stock in the newsroom. “It has established a very dominant, very strong presence of photo at the table. They’re not a service department; they’re part of a collective effort.”

It hasn’t always been easy. Stan Alost, a former deputy photo director, said a few photographers have left because they could not meet the new standards. But Alost considered the overall effort a success. “It was a group decision, widely supported.”

Reduce copy editor overload

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Stover, managing editor of Florida Today, recommends a careful look at the workload of the copy desk and the mix of tasks assigned to each copy editor.

“Reduce the number of different tasks a copy editor does in a given shift,” Stover said. Since Florida Today began its accuracy initiative, he said, copy editors typically either edit stories and write headlines or design and paginate pages in a given shift, rather than combining all those chores during one shift.

When the Chicago Tribune was working on factual accuracy, the newspaper’s copy desk was feeling the crunch of more production duties. To help copy editors juggle priorities, three editors wrote guidelines.

Another way to improve accuracy is to encourage aggressive questioning on the copy desk and make sure the copy desk can reach the reporter, photographer or assigning editor on deadline. Encouragement and receptiveness to questions from copy editors can play a significant role in accuracy: The more receptive the reporter or editor is to questions, the more likely the copy editor is to ask more — and fix more.

Training works

Many newspapers offer ongoing staff training that focuses on accuracy.

At The Kansas City Star, three staff members — an assignment editor, a copy editor and a reporter — have teamed up to create a workshop on verification and correction. Seminar participants go over a guide that describes verification steps for common reporting situations, information about sources to check and style and spelling tips.

“Make it a priority and actually pay attention to things like workload, training, orientation and continuing education.” Bob Stover Florida Today

In addition, said Miriam Pepper, readers’ representative for The Star, an assistant managing editor leads regular training workshops called “News Smarts,” many of which focus on improving accuracy. For example, the newspaper was often incorrectly describing guns, so editors invited representatives of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to conduct a News Smarts workshop at which staff members learned about and inspected a variety of firearms.

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“Accuracy training here has focused on improving a specific skill or knowledge,” said Stover of Florida Today. “For instance, we’ve had math classes for reporters simply to make sure they know how to figure percentages. Also, we have orientation on local knowledge because we have so many imports from outside the area.

“Since department staffs aren’t huge, we’ve been able to do brownbag instructional meetings that are described as developing expertise but go a long way toward improving accuracy. For instance, our business staff of seven people has local financial planners in to talk about something as simple as ‘How to read an annual report.’ Certainly these sessions provide us with nuances, and sometimes they provide someone with very basic knowledge.”

At The Journal Times in Racine, Wis., City Editor Gary Metro stresses expertise about the community and newspaper procedures during a two- to three-week “boot camp” for new reporters from outside the area.

During that time, the new staff member shadows experienced beat reporters. He or she will produce stories from the beat, but the main goal is learning and getting to know communities.

“There’s no question that it helps someone become more familiar with names, places and faces,” Metro said. “It does require a commitment to do this and a will not to throw GA stuff in that direction, but on this particular thing, I was able to focus on hitting the long ball. It’s important that they learn what’s expected and learn the community.”

Discussion guides Several guides in Chapter 6 relate to this chapter: Guide 7 — When to publish a correction Guide 8 —Powerful images Guide 9 — False report on Clinton Guide 10 — A missing child Guide 11 — Naming a rape victim RESOURCES Chapter 5 contains additional resources for this chapter: The New York Times guidelines on corrections The New York Times guidelines on editors’ notes Minneapolis Star Tribune source questionnaire Chicago Tribune correction form Chicago Tribune accuracy report The News-Times proofing list Chicago Tribune copy editing guidelines The Kansas City Star verification guidelines

NOTES

1. Phil Record, ombudsman column, Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, Sept. 21, 1997

2. Urban, p. 8.

3. Urban, p. 7

4. Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect, due for publication spring 2001 by Crown Publishers, New York, p. 73.

5. Urban, pp. 11, 13-15, 17

6. Nancy Conner, After Deadline, St. Paul Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. September 1999.

7. Journalism Credibility Project, Examining Our Credibility, Building Reader Trust, American Society of Newspaper Editors, 2000, p. 6.

8. Jack Fuller, News Values, Ideas for an Information Age, University of Chicago Press, 1996, p. 11.

9. “From the Editors,” The New York Times, Sept. 26, 2000.

10. “Southwest Suburban ACT Scores Fail to Meet State Average,” Chicago Tribune, Nov. 19, 1997.

11. “Homewood-Flossmoor High School Beating Odds,” Chicago Tribune, Nov. 20, 1997.

12. “Correction,” Chicago Tribune, Nov. 20, 1997.

13. Diane McFarlin, “Your Advocate Set to Address Printed Errors,” Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune, May 16, 1999.