In the days of online and social media, a lesson that needs to be learnt by all is that once something is out there, it can’t be taken back. If you make a mistake, own it.
This morning the NZ Herald ran a story entitled Flight 370: We will find it. Now in the original story there is this quote:
“If you have currents at four knots, that means four nautical miles a day, and a considerable distance in 14 days,” he said. (he being Alain Bouillard, 63 who was involved in the search for the Air France flight)
Now for those who aren’t sure, 1 knot equals 1 nautical mile per HOUR not per DAY as this story states. Now, this could be a simple mistake by the journalist. However, instead of just correcting the mistake, they have decided to pull the whole of that part of the story.
Now pulling this part of this story is not a huge thing. However it does make me wonder what other parts of what other stories have been pulled or changed with no mention of it in the story?
Below are two screen grabs showing the part of the story that has been pulled, and the new version. There is also a photo of the story, with the incorrect information in it, in this mornings print edition.
This should serve as a warning to those involved in the coming political campaign, once something is online, it is not able to be hidden. If you make a mistake, own up to it.
Stuff and NZHerald online amend stories a lot. They story that was in the paper and is up first thing is updated during the day as events change, with bits taken out that no longer make sense in news article about something that has now happened. I find it kind of annoying. If something new happens, I’d like a new story, or something clearly labelled as an update with the original story still in tact.
As for corrections, if they remove something, it should be noted. NYTime and Slate do this really well.
I fully agree on your points Graeme.