The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.
Elbert HubbardUS author (1856 - 1915)
The land of mistakes is a difficult one to travel through when you are a journalist. It is a tricky land to travel through when you are working in any sort of public forum. A mistake can be something that can cost you your job, or that can cost someone else their reputation. As student journalists, heaven knows that we err on occasion, but thankfully we are getting the opportunity to do so now instead of when it might affect people in a more substantial way, or when we may find ourselves part of a defamation lawsuit.
Elbert HubbardUS author (1856 - 1915)
The land of mistakes is a difficult one to travel through when you are a journalist. It is a tricky land to travel through when you are working in any sort of public forum. A mistake can be something that can cost you your job, or that can cost someone else their reputation. As student journalists, heaven knows that we err on occasion, but thankfully we are getting the opportunity to do so now instead of when it might affect people in a more substantial way, or when we may find ourselves part of a defamation lawsuit.
Our opportunity to make those mistakes now is something for which we should be grateful, because I am sure that in our future careers those surrounding us and sharing the blame for our mistakes will not be as forgiving.
We are definitely shrouded in our society by the pursuit for perfection- the drive to be the best, and if not the very best, to at least come in a respectful second to it. The fear of not rising to any occasion I feel can stunt someone who is in a creative occupation – to not take that leap or attempt because of the fear of failure. Therefore, I believe that if you set out with the intention to be correct, to do a good job and to represent the truth, you should not have a fear of making a mistake, but a cautionary approach to all that you publically write, say, etc...
One must keep in mind that there is a great difference between a factual error and a mistake of judgement. The former seems to be worse. If a factual error is made then a simple note of apology given in the same forum where it was made seems to be an adequate solution. If an error in judgement is made and something is printed, or televised that should not have been, it is a harder situation to correct. Printing facts without knowing they are true is an example of this, which can hurt the person that it is about. A reputation is tarnished and you have created a situation that cannot be corrected by a simple apology. When quoting someone, be sure to take the time to make sure that you are accurate- in this article, the difference between the word “pumped” and “pimped” made the difference between someone sounding like they were trying to get some “street-credibility” or just excited about something.
This article misspelled the name of a character in a famous novel- not a very big deal. They issue a correction at the end of the story, and the problem is solved.
With news agencies releasing stories as quickly as they can on social media outlets such as Twitter; fact-checking of such a low word count would seem like it is unnecessary, but....
As a news agency, they must ensure that their reputation and the reputation of others stay intact when releasing news information on any sort of medium in any sort of public matter.
This being said, one will notice more mistakes the more a person checks their work. The more work they do, the more checking, and perhaps one day we will find ourselves making less mistakes, but it is impossible not to make any at all. Turn lemons into lemonade and ensure that whatever corrections or apologies must be made are done so quickly, and take the mistake and at least learn not to make the same one again.
You may take the advice of the following article, and when you make an error, just write your correction with as much humour and art as possible.
This older article explores the question, “Do you correct online journalism in the original story, or simply attach a correction to the original, or both?” I am feeling inclined to agree with just correcting the original, but with a correction statement tagged at the bottom.
The Edmonton Journal posts their corrections online; this mistake seems like it wasn’t a very big deal.
The mistake in this correction seemed as if it was not the journalist’s fault at all- his story just didn’t run in its entirety? That seems like a large thing to miss...
Sun Media regrets not accurately reporting the amount of salary that the CPP investment board took home in May 2009...
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