“The standards by and large are holding up very well,” he says. “They have served us well for a long time. Social media and the new world we find ourselves in is another way to gather and distribute information, but the standards of accuracy and freedom from bias and trust are just as applicable.”

OK, but let’s get down to the most important question facing style guide authors everywhere: is “Twitter” a verb, or should you use “tweet”?

“My preference for a verb is to tweet,” Wright says. “There may be another opinion out there. It’s just another example of how quickly things change.”

Correction of the Week

“IN our edition dated April 12, 2009, we reported that Thomas Tolan, below, a current inmate of Maghaberry prison was facing disciplinary proceedings having allegedly been found by prison officials to be in possession of hard core pornographic DVDs.
It has been pointed out to us by Mr Tolan that he was not in fact found in possession of any such material and that he was fully exonerated by the authorities in respect of the matter.

“We are happy to correct this matter and regret any embarassment caused to Mr Tolan.” – News of the World

Bad Science

“Owing to an editing error, our report ‘Women who dress provocatively more likely to be raped, claim scientists’ (June 23) wrongly stated that research presented at the recent BPS conference by Sophia Shaw found that women who drink alcohol are more likely to be raped. In fact, the research found the opposite. We apologise for our error.” – Daily Telegraph (U.K.)

Parting Shot

“In a July 13 story, The Associated Press described Shulamit Kishak-Cohen, who helped smuggle Jews to Israel from Lebanon in the 1950s and was awarded a rare citation, as having carried on a romantic liaison with a French intelligence agent. The story should have attributed the information to a book about Kishak-Cohen, ‘Shula: Code Name The Pearl.’ Her family says the assertion is entirely false and sullies her reputation.” – Associated Press

Craig Silverman is the editor of RegretTheError.com and the author of Regret The Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech. He is also the editorial director of OpenFile.ca and a columnist for the Toronto Star.