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Starting this week, Craig Silverman, the editor of media errors and corrections Web site RegretTheError.com, will provide a Friday roundup of the week in corrections, errors, and accuracy news.
Blame it on the megapixel.
Last weekend, the Boston Globe published a seemingly harmless photo of Kevin O’Connell, a rookie quarterback with the New England Patriots. The shot caught him throwing the football during practice, but thanks to high resolution photography, it also captured something unexpected.
O’Connell wore a wristband on his left forearm that lists the team’s offensive plays. Perhaps because of a rookie hazing ritual, his wristband also included a piece of paper displaying what the Globe later described as “inappropriate language.”
Nobody at the paper caught it during the editorial and production process, and so eagle-eyed readers who read the message were offered this insight: “My Dick Is Tiny Too!”
Keen observers were treated to another chuckle, or gasp, when they read the caption: “The Patriots are refining Kevin O’Connell’s mechanics, but they believe he has the tools to be a top-flight quarterback.”
Ah, but the wristband begs to differ.
On Tuesday, the Globe published this Editor’s Note:
Editor’s note: A photo on Page C6 in Sunday’s Sports section showed Patriots rookie quarterback Kevin O’Connell wearing a wristband with inappropriate language written on it. The photo did not meet the Globe’s journalistic standards and should not have been published.
Correction of the Week
“Deep depression: Our economics editor has officially gone from recession to depression. By mangling the names of two of history’s most highly decorated economists, John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman, we not only created an economy of truth but blamed poor Milton Keynes for having “crazy” ideas (We can all learn from Depression, Opinion, page 21, September 29). Milton Keynes is an English town famous not only for its grid system of roads and its herd of concrete cows but because in 1998 it was deemed so boring that even chartered accountants refused to move there. The “crazy” ideas comment was intended for John Maynard Keynes, who was voted one of Time Magazine’s most important people of the 20th century – and who was not boring.” – The West Australian
Dept. of Fuzzy Numbers
In Saturday’s story “Afghanistan slips under a blind eye” the date used when referring to the terrorism attacks in the United States was wrong. It was, of course, September 11, 2001. – Sydney Morning Herald
Due to a typographical error, a previous version of this article said that the amount of losses from Monday’s market collapse was $1,300 trillion. The correct amount is $1.3 trillion. – Wall Street Journal
Parting Shot
I’ll decline to reprint the correction here, but suffice to say that Slate has no problem (mis)quoting profanity.
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