Things have gone wrong and and I don’t want them to be this way!

Craig SilvermanEditor of Regret the Error & Adjunct Faculty

Poynter Institute@craigsilverman | #newsrw

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/regret-the-error/

Corrections: A Brief History

• 1548 -- “I shall never admit for any affection towards countree or Kyn, to be so partial, as wil wittingly either bolster the falsehood or bery the truthe.”

• 1690 -- “...nothing shall be entered, but what we have reason to believe is true... and when there appears any material mistake in anything that is collected, it shall be corrected in the next.” -- Benjamin Harris

• 1972 -- New York Times

Fundamentals

• Feel like a human.• Write like a human.• Be clear about what was wrong, and the

correct information.• Due prominence.• A correction is an act of promotion that builds

trust.

Corrections = Good

• A 1998 survey by ASNE found 63% of newspaper readers “felt better” about a paper when they saw corrections.

Law of Incorrect Tweets

The initial, mistaken information will be retweeted more than any subsequent

correction

Pushing out corrections

Networked corrections

• Match corrections to distribution channels.• Be clear, consistent.• Reach out to people who reshared, retweeted.

Activate the network effect.• Remember: an act of promotion.• Works best when full hearted.

Because it’s England…