The Best Corrections of 2019

Dec 30, 2019 · 22 comments
Vesko (Bg)
I love those!
Vera (PNW)
Thank you for the humor. It is especially appreciated during this difficult time of news. I read the corrections, and appreciate that the Times cares enough to submit them. I did some editing in my past and still notice even slight errors but let them go knowing how fast the news has to be published. Whenever I see errors I'm very careful to not point it out to the whole world. If it's glaring I'll email the author. Otherwise, I just enjoy finding them (typos) and keep it to myself.
Rachel Hoffman (Portland OR)
Three days in, you provided the first laugh in a new year that promises few laughable moments. Thank you for this, and for your humble pursuit of accuracy that these corrections represent.
M Johnston (Central TX)
Just curious: does Fox News ever run corrections? Would they have time for any other content if they did so?
Molly Bloom (Tri State)
@M Johnston SNL has a skit where they run Fox and Friends corrections in a full fast-moving scroll across the screen...
Aristotle (SOCAL)
How ironic it would be (if not apropos) for an upcoming correction to this story on corrections.
tinhorse (northern new mexico)
I miss the edit quizzes the NYT used to publish!
Danny Williams (West Virginia)
Best Correction Ever was in the Martinsburg (WV) Journal, July 1979. Paraphrasing:" Monday's story about the neighborhood disturbance on Water Street misidentified the persons taken by police to the Eastern Panhandle Mental Health Center for observation. It was Mr. and Mrs. Smith, not Mr. and Mrs. Jones." (Pity the Journal worker who answered the phone on that one.)
Alan (Hawaii)
Thankfully, I am under no ethical obligation to publish corrections to errors I make in my daily life. So let me just say, sorry about that. I’ll try to do better in 2020.
Muneera (MO)
This entire read made me laugh out loud. Its sincere and funny and reflects the serious and detailed work that you do. I forgot how good it is to laugh. Humor makes everything okay. We forgive you. Stay human. Stay funny.
Anthony C. (Fairfield, CT)
Bravo! I admire the continued commitment to transparency and learning. I think many organizations could learn from the NYT's instance on getting it right and not shying away from a correction.
Herringchoker (New Brunswick)
"Instance?" I believe a correction is due. I would suggest "insistence."
no pretenses (NYC)
and the Russian collusion ???
Dana Lawrence (Davenport, IA)
What about the one involving Bret Stephens' inability to actually read an article he cited in a controversial article? That one was not funny nor meaningless. And you have done nothing in response save publish a correction.
Convince Me (USA)
@Dana Lawrence Have you read the cited (and stupidly removed) article? It was long, dense and scientific, quite difficult for someone with no background to understand. My daughter (an academic genetic anthropologist) told me the article was "widely discredited" for associating certain disease genes with cognitive abilities. But there were other numerous interesting "facts" cited in the study. https://web.mit.edu/fustflum/documents/papers/AshkenaziIQ.jbiosocsci.pdf
R Farr (CT)
I remember a correction once made about Dan Quayle and "potatoe", sometime in autumn perhaps, in the 90's. The correction itself misspelled "attaack", which somehow seemed on purpose. Been wasting a good hour on "Times Machine" looking for it, with no luck, alas. I could have dreamt the whole thing up. It was better, by the way, when the corrections were always on page 3, which lent due importance to their appearance.
JiMcL (Riverside)
The last correction cited in this story might well be the most efficient, best remembered ad for Kassl that the company never ran.
Paul Kunz (Missouri)
Thanks for your continued integrity. It is one of the reasons I read the NY Times. You may make mistakes, but you own up to them.
vandalfan (north idaho)
Kind of uncool to put the correction about the Quran in the same paragraph as toilet seat correction. If Evangelicals read this and the item discussed was a Bible, I'm sure you'd be accused of blasphemy.
Bob (Colorado)
There're probably a few plumbers out there equally upset. Pissed off. even.
Steve (MA)
I believe one of the best parts of the Times is the Corrections column. I hope that you will never stop correcting your mistakes, no matter how small they may appear.
Dan K (Louisville, CO)
Only those who do nothing make no mistakes.