Craig Silverman’s “B.S. Detection for Digital Content” session led copy editors through the possible pitfalls for relying on online information and provided advice for how to avoid them. Journalists who are hoodwinked by misinformation spreading around the Internet often end up circulating errors that they have a hard time correcting, said Silverman, founder of Regret [...]
Journalists on every beat are looking back at the trends and stories that defined the past 12 months. I engage in my own annual retrospective on Regret the Error by offering the Year in Media Errors and Corrections and a round-up of incidents of journalistic plagiarism. Business journalism was represented in both. For example, this [...]
I asked Nocera to identify some of the mistakes made by journalists in covering the crisis and suggest how business journalists can avoid them in the future. I came away with three pieces of advice to go along with his tip about seeking out the “lone voice.”
Oldest, newest, costliest, largest, smallest, most corrupt, most ethical, most effective, least harmful… journalists often apply these superlatives to a person, company, product or other entity. And that in turn often leads to corrections like this one from Saturday’s New York Times: A chart with the continuation of an article on Thursday about General Motors’ [...]
REGRET THE BUSINESS ERROR: Business journalists are probably more comfortable inside a factory or boardroom instead of a laboratory or operating room. But scientific and medical studies frequently impact the business world, which means you need to know when a study is presenting important new data, or bringing forward initial findings that may or may [...]
If I say the name, Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, you know exactly whom I’m talking about. You’re likely picturing the widely circulated photo of him in his uniform, mustache front and center. But who’s this guy: Don’t feel bad if you can’t place the face. His name is Jeffrey Skiles, and he was the [...]
Ah, earnings season. CFOs reach for their lucky pen, belt, shoes or other good luck charm. Investor relations teams prepare to highlight the good and mitigate the bad. And if you listen closely, you can hear conference call lines being initiated all over the country. Reporting on corporate earnings leaves a journalist open to committing [...]
This recent correction from the New York Times left me puzzled, not to mention amused: An article on Wednesday about the continuing role of members of corporate boards who served on companies at the center of the financial crisis referred incorrectly at one point to a former Bear Stearns director who joined the board of [...]
Imagine telling an editor that it’s too confusing for you to have to keep track of people’s names and titles for your story. I know, you’re thinking that would never happen. Yet journalists do basically the same thing all the time when it comes to math and numbers. “It’s okay if you walk up to [...]
