“Everyone reads the false report and no one reads the correction”
“As the journalism adage goes, everyone reads the false report and no one reads the correction” was cited in print in July 2013. Newspapers, when they do publish corrections, usually publish it in small print. However, the errors often appear in large print headlines.
“Almost nobody reads the correction sections of even the major newspapers” was cited in print in 2004. “No one remembers retractions; no one reads the ‘corrections’ column that appears at the bottom of page 17, to correct a screaming page 1 headline from the day before” was cited in print in 2009.
Patterico’s Pontifications
10/15/2004
An Illustration of the Importance of Putting Major Corrections on the Front Page
Filed under: Dog Trainer,Media Bias — Patterico @ 6:16 am
During my vacation, the L.A. Times made a mistake in its coverage of the Swift Boat Vets’ criticism of John Kerry. Now that is certainly nothing new — but I think that the nature of the mistake, and the way it came about, illustrate three theories that I have been advancing on these pages for as long as I can remember:
•Almost nobody reads the correction sections of even the major newspapers;
•Therefore, newspapers should give more prominent placement to corrections of important errors on the significant issues of the day; and
•Newspapers should assign someone with editorial responsibility to read blogs on a regular basis.
The Golem
Friday, January 2, 2009
Resolution Time
(...)
No one remembers retractions; no one reads the “corrections” column that appears at the bottom of page 17, to correct a screaming page 1 headline from the day before. The person who was arrested is assumed to have been guilty, and there they stay, right up to, through, and even after their trial. “Found innocent?” “Released?” Forget about it. They’ve been guilty all this time, and they still are. This is what’s so dangerous about “news”. It is, by nature, off-the-cuff, incomplete, and fraught with impressions, emotions, and hyperbole
Blog For Arizona
July 05, 2010
Michael Mann exonerated; will the media issue a retraction and apology? (of course not)
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
It is a truism of modern media that no one reads the corrections to articles. It is even rarer that the media publishes a retraction and an apology for having hyped a story that it later discovers to have gotten completely wrong. “Eh, it’s old news, who cares?”
Twitter
RSY-Netzer
@RSYNetzerNorth
How can we make sure the stories we read are true? Once it’s out we can’t take it back . No-one reads the correction section. #BTFI
5:02 AM - 27 Nov 11
Twitter
Donnie
@easygoer132
@DJMissBXXX The bill was altered. Here’s the original: http://is.gd/7eGWzy Story served it’s purpose though. Nobody reads the correction
7:44 PM - 1 Mar 12
The Free Press (Rockland, ME)
7/3/2013 9:58:00 AM
Eye on Augusta: As Legislative Session Winds Down, Veto Spree Continues
by Andy O’Brien
(...)
“In the last election cycle we saw good people attacked through the Ethics Commission for political gain,” wrote LePage. “Everyone reads the headlines, but no one reads the corrections. In a fair world, this is a good bill, but this is not a fair world.”
Twitter
Bryant Johnson
@BryantJohnson1
“As the journalism adage goes, everyone reads the false report and no one reads the correction.” Modern America. http://www.salon.com/2013/07/08/how_the_media_outrageously_blew_the_irs_scandal_a_full_accounting/ …
6:00 PM - 8 Jul 13