“During the editing of this Review of the Week by Richard Smith (BMJ 2008;337:a2719,doi:10.1136/bmj.a2719), the author’s term “pisshouse” was changed to “pub” in the sentence: “Then, in true British and male style, Hammond met Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, in the pub and did a deal.” However, a pisshouse is apparently a gentleman’s toilet, and (in the author’s social circle at least) the phrase “pisshouse deal” is well known. (It alludes to the tendency of men to make deals while standing side by side and urinating.) In the more genteel confines of the BMJ Editorial Office, however, this term was unknown and a mistake was made in translating it into more standard English. We apologise for any misunderstanding this may have caused.” – British Medical Journal
Off On a Few Points
“A headline on Page 2 of Wednesday’s Local & State section incorrectly reported that a 4-year-old girl had been thrown from a truck. The girl was riding in a car, not a truck; her father was thrown from the vehicle, but she was not. Their car collided with a pickup.” – Fresno Bee
Parting Shot
“No, computers aren’t regarded in the chess world as the “silicone monster” that can beat the world’s best players and thus presents the potential for cheating at top-level chess matches. The phrase uttered by international chess referee Hal Bond of Guelph, which was used in a story in Tuesday’s Trib, was actually “silicon monster.” Silicon is a chemical element with semiconducting properties, used in making electronic circuits. Silicone is a durable synthetic resin, used for sealing cracks and sometimes for breast implants. We goofed. We’re sorry.” – Guelph Tribune
The goal ought to be to put the reader in a state of maximum correct information, given the scope of the original story. Therefore, the default ought to be that the error gets reprinted with the correction. Repeating the error in the context of a correction does not "heighten the damage."
#1 Posted by messagecomplete, CJR on Mon 19 Jan 2009 at 01:31 PM
Unless necessary for clarity, don't repeat the error. People may remember the error rather than the correct information. See below.
From:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090300933_pf.html
Persistence of Myths Could Alter Public Policy Approach
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 4, 2007; A03
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued a flier to combat myths about the flu vaccine. It recited various commonly held views and labeled them either "true" or "false." Among those identified as false were statements such as "The side effects are worse than the flu" and "Only older people need flu vaccine."
When University of Michigan social psychologist Norbert Schwarz had volunteers read the CDC flier, however, he found that within 30 minutes, older people misremembered 28 percent of the false statements as true. Three days later, they remembered 40 percent of the myths as factual.
Younger people did better at first, but three days later they made as many errors as older people did after 30 minutes. Most troubling was that people of all ages now felt that the source of their false beliefs was the respected CDC.
The psychological insights yielded by the research, which has been confirmed in a number of peer-reviewed laboratory experiments, have broad implications for public policy. The conventional response to myths and urban legends is to counter bad information with accurate information. But the new psychological studies show that denials and clarifications, for all their intuitive appeal, can paradoxically contribute to the resiliency of popular myths. ...
#2 Posted by Ruth, CJR on Fri 30 Jan 2009 at 11:21 AM