Errors and the Media

Craig Silverman should be commended for his work in exposing media errors and the efforts of editors to correct them (or not).

Silverman’s website, Regret the Error, reports on “media corrections, retractions, apologies, clarifications and trends regarding accuracy and honesty in the press.”

I definately agree with Silverman that a continuous flow of errors in newspapers does erode the credibility of media organizations and journalists.

Luckily, it seems as though some Canadian newspapers have started to recognize the importance of publishing corrections to inform the public of any errors that may have been previously printed.

I can’t say I’m surprised regarding Silverman’s claim that research on the level of error in U.S. newspapers shows that while a significant percentage of newspaper news stories include some kind of error (between 40 and 60 per cent), only 2 per cent of factual errors are corrected. Even though I’m appalled with this finding, here’s why I’m not shocked:

My Horrible Experiences with Media Inaccuracies

As a former national team trampoline athlete, I’ve had my fair share of press time. It’s astonishing to consider how many mistakes newspapers, in particular, have made in published stories concerning me or the meets I competed in.

Spelling Names Incorrectly is Wrong

The most common mistake I’ve noticed is that journalists often misspell my name. I realize that “Brian” is more common than “Bryan,” but really, how do journalists, of all people, possibly manage to get someone’s name wrong? Seriously, search “Brian Milonja” in Google and you’ll be blown away at the number of articles that show up. This just isn’t right.

Journalists Should Get Their Facts Right

Another trend I’ve observed is that many journalists simply just cannot get their facts right.

An excellent example is when journalist Adam Steiss managed to include a grand total of three mistakes about my trampoline career in a short 265 word article.

Steiss reported that I began doing trampoline when I was five-years-old (I started when I was seven); he reported that I qualified for my first world age-class championships at 17-years-old (actually, I won my first “World Age Games” at age 10); and finally, he reported that the World Championships of trampoline are held every three years (they are held every two years).

What bugs me the most about this example is that I gave him all of the correct information when he interviewed me. This tells me that he is either a poor listener or is terrible at taking notes (or possibly both).

Corrections Increase Media Credibility

As a journalism student, I always make it a point to get names and facts right. Although I have to admit that with strict deadlines, it's not always easy to get everything right the first time around.

However, that's precisely why I think publishing error notifications is so important. Not only does it serve to help make the media more credible, I agree with Silverman that it helps us "forge a stronger bond with the public and with our sources."