In 2002, the Star ran 688 corrections on Page A2, up from 645 the previous year.
Readers called or wrote to me to report more than 200, or nearly a third, of those mistakes.
That vigilance by the public is most welcome, said Assistant Managing Editor Chuck Kramer, whose responsibilities include tracking errors.
Making the reader advocate aware of possible errors ensures that possible mistakes do not go unreported, Kramer said.
Kramer cited greater accountability for the increase in the number of corrections and the fact that there is more news in the paper. However, he’s certain that errors still go unreported either to the paper or to him. Typos such as “that” for “than” are not corrected unless they appear in headline type.
Kramer presented his error analysis to top managers last week. This is his second full year of tracking errors using a database.
The biggest source was the wrong-fact category, 157. Kramer pointed out that this included catchable errors such as “San Manuel’s gold mines” instead of copper mines.
“We misspelled 46 names, used a wrong title seven times and misidentified 108 folks,” Kramer said. The 2002 total for these kinds of errors was 161, up from 117 in 2001.
Managing Editor Bobbie Jo Buel’s “inexcusable category – wrong telephone numbers – increased from nine a year ago to 15,” Kramer said.
Kramer has proposed brainstorming sessions with reporters such as Doug Kreutz, whose work required no corrections in the last two years.
Newspapers across the country track their errors to identify problem areas. Studies show that newspapers that correct their mistakes are considered more credible than those that do not.
At the Boston Globe, 901 editor’s notes, clarifications, omissions and corrections were published last year. There were 658 at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and 678 at the Chicago Tribune, according to columns by my counterparts at those papers.
Mauldin connection
Reader George Cannon, whose sister graduated from Phoenix Union High School, pointed out that The Associated Press story on the death of WWII cartoonist Bill Mauldin neglected to say he was an alum. The Arizona Republic’s story reported that Mauldin had attended but left in 1939 without graduating, then received a diploma in 1945 after he became famous. Star newspaper clippings from 1985 mention a Northeast Side home in Tucson. Earlier stories describe his Tucson visits to his mother, Kay Curtis, who in 1963 lived on East Calle de Soto, near what is now El Con Mall.
McCain’s mojo
Retired teacher Margaret-Ann Fangmeier, was puzzled by a political notebook item Jan. 13 about Sen. John McCain, who was described as having “mojo.” Reporter C.J. Karamargin also received calls. One asked “Is ‘moho’ a Mexican thing?” Another said her son used the word a lot and wanted to know, “Is it dirty?” It’s neither. Karamargin explained that in this context it means “momentum,” “power,” “force.” “Mojo” was most recently popularized in the “Austin Powers” movies.
Home-sold listings
For the third week in a row, the Pima County residential home sales listings were not available for publication. First the problem was transmission difficulties. Finally, last week Home editor Elena Chabolla received data, but the listings were incomplete.
The Star, up close
Readers are invited to sit in on daily news meeting and tour the plant. On Monday, Kathy Green and Shannon Green joined editors. Tuesday, Linda Abrams, Clifford Bergstrom, Esther Bergstrom, Betty Coon, Charles Coon, LaMoyne Cooper and Janet Ladewig sat in. Wednesday, Roy Mayeske, Barry Turkel and Milton Turkel toured the plant, and Thursday, Alex Dessler, Lorraine Dessler and Bob Nelson did both.
