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Do-over or correction

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Smallpotatoes, Nov 7, 2008.

  1. Smallpotatoes

    Smallpotatoes Well-Known Member

    This week, I made a typo in while writing the headline for a submitted piece (with a team picture, of course) about an undefeated middle school soccer team. The school's name was incorrect in the headline. For some reason, I just misread the name of the school. It was totally my mistake.
    Some readers have pointed out that this is the type of thing that is cut out for scrapbooks, refrigerators, mailed to relatives, etc. and for that reason the entire piece should be republished.
    Is that the right thing to do or is a simple correction OK?
     
  2. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Correction only.

    Never republish, unless virtually every word in the story was wrong (which I've seen happen, actually.) That's them trying to push you around (which seems to happen a lot, actually.)
     
  3. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Yeah, sorry for their scrapbooks, but it happens. Correction. As that Terrell Texas publisher said, but unfortunately when he was totally in the wrong, you're not in the keepsake business.
     
  4. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    Those middle school kids will never get noticed by English Premier League clubs now.
     
  5. MacDaddy

    MacDaddy Active Member

    Nicely played.
     
  6. FishHack76

    FishHack76 Active Member

    "I say, Sir Alex, where is this Madson Middle School? I can only find Madison on my GPS. Oh well, it's back to jolly old England with our millions of pounds that we could have given to some 11-year-old boy who worked and tried really hard."
     
  7. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    Correction. Don't set a precedent. It was a mistake, and they'll get over it eventually.
     
  8. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Correction. Anyone who isn't related to the team or isn't friends won't be wanting to read the same story in the paper again.

    I have seen a story run on a second occasion, but that has been when the story was cut off inadvertently, or was supposed to jump and didn't.
     
  9. Killick

    Killick Well-Known Member

    Here's what we used to do at my paper with mistakes of this nature. Correction for the newspaper, but make corrected copies (printed on Velox paper -- or photo paper) available to interested parties. They get their scrapbook fodder, you get a correction in... everybody's happy.
     
  10. zebracoy

    zebracoy Guest

    Republish it, but change the names of the kids. That'll make 'em happy.
     
  11. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Add cute nicknames. Like Johnny "His mama's hot" Smith, Billy "Douchebag" Watson, Joe "Little Shit" Johnson, and Brad "Dad's an alcoholic meth-head" Stewart.
    You get to vent, and they get their names in the paper. It's a win-win.
     
  12. RedCanuck

    RedCanuck Active Member

    I try to do the same as Killick if we have that situation. I'll run a correction and I'll typeset and photocopy a corrected piece for the families.
     
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