Self-loathing Journalists

[Sneed]

Mistakes happen. I've had plenty in my young career caught just before press time (and even the unfortunate few not caught).

But hey, if you want some serious consolation, even the great W.C. Heinz made typos. I just bought his book What A Time It Was and found two in one column.

Don't ever lose all that edge, all that dismay you feel at mistakes, however. They'll happen, but they should never be OK.

 

[Stitch]

The thing that scares me the most about how the online movement is being carried out in most newsrooms is the absolute erosion of copy editing.

it is deeply, deeply disturbing

You mean newsrooms that let reporters post their own stuff online? I hate it when my mistakes get through and you definitely need a different pair of eyes looking at things.

Of course when errors such as the "Beets Tuesday won" get through regularly, you just have to let things go because you can't change anything if the boss okays the errors.

 

[DirtyDeeds]

Mistakes happen. I've had plenty in my young career caught just before press time (and even the unfortunate few not caught).

But hey, if you want some serious consolation, even the great W.C. Heinz made typos. I just bought his book What A Time It Was and found two in one column.

Don't ever lose all that edge, all that dismay you feel at mistakes, however. They'll happen, but they should never be OK.

Yes, it's the agonizing over the little things that make the best people as good as they are. I still worry a lot while I'm doing it, but once it's done, it's done and I let it go.

 

[SportsDude]

I once dented the side of a rental car when I was told I spelled Dwyane Wade's name wrong for the second day in a row.

I'm fairly certain Wade's mom has spelled his first name wrong.

Yeah, but I did it once, was told I did it by the desk and then did it again. That really ****ing pissed me off (at myself).

Heh, did that one myself last week in a cutline. The new-fangled crazy spellings of first names is not one of my favorite fads.

 

[HejiraHenry]

I'm comfortable getting behind surgeons and E.R. docs on the list of folks who brood about their mistakes. I still kick myself in the ass for the 5 or 10 biggest mistakes I have made in my career, each of which could have been avoided by just one more check of the proof or check of the notes or one more phone call to ask one more question.

I settled, and that still grates in each and every case.

 

[micke77]

The Life.....if I had a dollar for every waste basket, filing cabinet, etc., I've kicked or hit for screwing up something in my sportswriting career, I would be rich right now and taking it easy on a beach in Tahita.
Okay, an exaggeration, of course. But I take things extra seriously when I have flubbed up something and, in particular, screwing up a name or pertinent stat. Or, the ultimate of ****ups, leaving the score out of a gamer that I was so proud of and had everything in it but the damn score.
It happens.
My cohorts, through the years, have been understanding and have realized it happens to all of us, so I didn't catch that much grief. Outside of the office? A different story. Everybody and his uncle would rib the hell out of me for making such a mistake and it would wind up pissing me off more than anything because I knew most of these "hey yous" couldn't put two sentences together and, much less, do it on deadline.
If you didn't care or if it didn't bother you, then I would really be worried.

 

[SixToe]

Years ago I saw a group of coaches at a high school game and went to visit with them.

"How the hell can you not get my first name correct?" was the greeting from one of them. The others sat and waited for me to reply, and my apology was profuse.

I still deal with him on occasion and never have screwed up his name again.

 

[Mark2010]

I care. It bothers me when I make mistakes, even more when they actually get into print.

But, as a former boss told me years ago, it ain't like you're playing with nuclear warheads. Life goes on and you pick yourself up and try to do better the next day.

And,no..... I DO NOT bother to spell check posts on SportsJournalists.com.

 

[Drip]

No one who gives a damn likes to make an error. However, I told long ago that this is the only profession where you can screw up and get a chance to do it all over again.
Shake it off. You'll be fine.

 

[Bullwinkle]

Making the apology to someone for spelling their name incorrectly is more gut-wrenching to me than anything.

It just reeks of your failure to do your job correctly. The simple task of double-checking the spelling is not difficult to perform.

Taking the fall because YOU spelled it right and a COPY EDITOR edited in a misspelling by accident ... little harder, imo. Happens, understandable, but still sucks.

 

[clutchcargo]

Writers miss stuff, line editors do, so do copy editors.

If it doesn't sting for a while, you are in the wrong business. If, however, you still lose sleep over it after the first couple times, you are in the wrong business.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Writers miss stuff, line editors do, so do copy editors.

If it doesn't sting for a while, you are in the wrong business. If, however, you still lose sleep over it after the first couple times, you are in the wrong business.

I actually think it's good to beat yourself up over mistakes (within reason). The goal is not to make any. Obviously, we're all human and we make typos and sometimes we'll spell a name wrong. The key is not to let it happen regularly.

 

[micke77]

My all-time f.... was when i was interning as a young sports scribe and there was a prep baseballer whose last name was Whitlock. had a big game and, of course, i spelled it as "****lock" and nobody caught it...so i am throwing a fit when it is published and kicking myself from one end of the office to the next..that night, the athlete calls me and says he thought it was the funniest damn thing that ever happened to him, that the only folks pissed were his parents, relatives and others who were reluctant to put the clipping in their scrapbook with "****lock" staring 'em in the face. to this day, whenever we bump into each other, he and I laugh about it.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I once wrote that a player "**** 6 for 10 from the field"

I caught it as I was filing it. I called my favorite agate guy, he changed it before the desk could see it and no one was any the wiser.

 

[The Granny]

I once wrote that a player "**** 6 for 10 from the field"

I caught it as I was filing it. I called my favorite agate guy, he changed it before the desk could see it and no one was any the wiser.

Is it wrong that I kind of hoped that got into print?

 

[pallister]

I got chewed out big-time by some flunkies around the office when I docked myself a day's pay for a fairly stupid and egregious error that nobody else had even noticed. Mostly by ****ers who a) were way below me on the food chain anyway, and b) make more mistakes in three days than I make in three years.

Fine. So be it. Justice begins at home.

Understanding your awesome superiority should take most of the sting out of your mistakes.

 

[PeteyPirate]

I will probably flagellate myself if I ever make a mistake.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

AP once filed a running story from a White Sox game that said "Frank Thomas likes to take pitchers deep into the count."

They forgot the O in count.

There were 10 corrections in about five seconds.

Best error ever...

 

[gravehunter]

I once dented the side of a rental car when I was told I spelled Dwyane Wade's name wrong for the second day in a row.

I spelled Wade's first name wrong once. It was fixed before going to print....but the mistake was mentioned in my review at the end of the year.

 

[apeman33]

I once wrote that a player "**** 6 for 10 from the field"

I caught it as I was filing it. I called my favorite agate guy, he changed it before the desk could see it and no one was any the wiser.

Is it wrong that I kind of hoped that got into print?

I once let "**** put" get into the paper. The girl in the event laughed her ass off and told everyone it was a cowchip-tossing contest.