Author Archive

Articles by Craig Silverman | Email the Author

 

1. Behind the News

   “Death Panels” Report Reaches Depressing Conclusions

   May 27, 2011 11:43 AM

   Harold Camping was wrong about the rapture happening this past weekend, but it’s unlikely he’ll ever admit to being wrong in the way most of us know he is. The same goes for hardcore birthers, the people who believed “death... Continue reading

2. Behind the News

   How News Ombudsmen Can Make Themselves Essential

   May 20, 2011 12:24 PM

   What do you tell a room filled with doomed journalists? When invited to deliver a keynote address at this year’s Organization of News Ombudsmen conference in Montreal, I found myself thinking about whether I should focus my... Continue reading

3. Behind the News

   Notes on Faked Photos

   May 13, 2011 11:00 AM

   Consider three images from the last couple of weeks: 1. President Barack Obama finishes his address announcing the killing of Osama Bin Laden and walks away from the cameras. After a brief break, he walks back down the same carpet... Continue reading

4. Behind the News

   “Obama Osama bin Laden Is Dead”

   May 6, 2011 12:18 PM

   Of all the mistaken headlines, verbal gaffes, and erroneous tweets that resulted from the Sunday announcement that Osama Bin Laden had been killed, this tour de force of Obama/Osama confusion defeats all comers: I... Continue reading

5. Behind the News

   Controversy at “Fox News North”

   April 29, 2011 12:18 PM

   Imagine for a moment that we’re in the middle of a presidential election. Now imagine that late in the campaign Rupert Murdoch publishes an editorial in the New York Post condemning a high level Republican campaign strategist for passing along... Continue reading

6. Behind the News

   Reynolds Wrap-Up

   April 22, 2011 11:59 AM

   On Monday morning I found myself on a bus in Columbia, Missouri heading to the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri. Joining me on the ride were roughly thirty mostly young, and totally impressive journalists... Continue reading

7. Behind the News

   The Most Amazing Corporate Press Release in History

   April 15, 2011 11:25 AM

   The last time the media fell for a Yes Men-affiliated hoax press release, it inspired a discussion about speed versus accuracy in journalism. This week the AP was duped by a fake announcement that GE had decided to... Continue reading

8. Behind the News

   Is This the World’s Best Twitter Account?

   April 8, 2011 12:20 PM

   Yesterday morning NPR’s Andy Carvin took a break from running one of the world’s best Twitter accounts to explain what it’s like to be a living, breathing real-time verification system. “All of this is more art than science,”... Continue reading

9. Behind the News

   The Trouble with ICorrect

   April 1, 2011 12:02 PM

   Sir David Tang, who launched the luxury retailer Shanghai Tang and has a golden rolodex when it comes to socialites and celebrities, recently launched ICorrect, a project that bills itself as “the first website to correct permanently any lies,... Continue reading

10. The Observatory

    Misinformation Clouds Much Japan Coverage

    March 25, 2011 11:59 AM

    Andrew Woolner’s Yokohama residence was left without power shortly after the recent major earthquake struck Japan. But his laptop and cell phone still had juice, and he managed to get online and read about what had happened. “We’re used to... Continue reading

11. Behind the News

    A New Commitment to Transparency at ESPN

    January 27, 2011 02:34 PM

    In October the National Republican Congressional Committee sent an e-mail to supporters that was signed by former Notre Dame football coach and current ESPN contributor Lou Holtz. “My friend, YOU, are the NRCC’s 12th man and they urgently need... Continue reading

12. Behind the News

    Q & A: Stephen Abell

    January 21, 2011 12:39 PM

    In late December, British tabloid The Sun published a correction to a sensational story it had writ large on the front page: Further to our article about increased security at Coronation Street's studios for their live 50th anniversary episode... Continue reading

13. Behind the News

    To Delete or Not to Delete?

    January 14, 2011 11:13 AM

    One of the long-standing accuracy debates in journalism centers around whether you should repeat the original error in a correction. I examined this issue two years ago, and I support repeating the mistake in order to ensure people understand... Continue reading

14. Behind the News

    Cable Access

    January 7, 2011 11:51 AM

    [Update: Craig Silverman elaborates on this column in a new CJR podcast, which you can listen to elsewhere on CJR.org here, or via iTunes here.] Time for a pop quiz: How many of the leaked... Continue reading

15. Behind the News

    Regret the Error’s Year in Review

    December 17, 2010 11:34 AM

    Close to fifty columns later, 2010 is coming to an end for Regret the Error. I spent this week looking over the interviews and links that I collected in order to tease out the most notable quotes from a year... Continue reading

16. Behind the News

    RTE’s Error of the Year

    December 10, 2010 09:50 AM

    It’s been a very stressful couple of weeks. Every year at this time, I publish the Year in Media Errors and Corrections on Regret the Error, a catalogue of the best of the worst in journalism mistakes and fixes.... Continue reading

17. Behind the News

    Q&A: Blur Author Tom Rosenstiel

    December 3, 2010 09:59 AM

    In their 2001 book, The Elements of Journalism Tom Rosenstiel and Bill Kovach list ten fundamental principles (“elements”) that make up journalism, and number four was, “Its essence is a discipline of verification.” Their latest offering, Blur: How... Continue reading

18. Behind the News

    The Authenticity Contest

    November 19, 2010 11:35 AM

    Accuracy is hot stuff these days, let me tell you. On Wednesday, Thomas Friedman of The New York Times dedicated a column to the correction of a rumor, and recent weeks have seen viral corrections and apologies,... Continue reading

19. Behind the News

    The State of Online Corrections

    November 12, 2010 11:13 AM

    In July, the media error reporting serviceMediaBugs released a survey that revealed twenty-one out of twenty-eight Bay Area news websites don’t offer a corrections link, and that seventeen of the twenty-eight “have no corrections policy or substantive corrections... Continue reading

20. Behind the News

    Star Trek Insurrection

    November 5, 2010 11:23 AM

    “We're sorry for claiming Captain Kirk was in command of Captain Picard's starship,” reads the headline on a rather remarkable apology issued this week by News.com.au, the Australian news portal owned by Rupert Murdoch. Look just below the... Continue reading

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