Regret the Error

Third time's the charm

Because of an editing error, an article last Monday about Jacqueline Melendez Rivera, a New York City police officer accused of covering up for her husband after the shooting of another officer in Brooklyn, misidentified her neighborhood at one point. She lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, not Prospect Heights. The error was repeated in a correction in this space on Thursday, and appeared in a correction in some copies on Feb. 14. Link

Fuzzy numbers etc.

The “Popular Demand” listing in the Most Wanted chart in Business Day last Monday, listing the top 10 films starring Billy Bob Thornton, misstated the total box office take for “Chrystal,” a film that was released in a few theaters in 2005 before going to DVD. It was $83,466, not $83.5 million. The corrected chart appears on Page C7. Link

Apology

eFrank, a website (and, in some provinces, magazine) that provides reporting and gossip on Canadian politicians, journalists, business leaders etc., had to apologize for a report about Krista Erickson, a reporter:

The Marky Bunch

Citizen Smith promoter: The co-host of the Delicious Mondays night at the Hollywood nightclub Citizen Smith was misidentified in Thursday's Buzz Clubs column. The promoter is Mark L. Walberg, the veteran TV actor and host of the first three seasons of "Temptation Island," not the actor Mark Wahlberg, the movie actor who most recently starred in "The Departed." Link

Shooting on Sunday

APOLOGY: In Friday's article on Liz Hurley's wedding it was wrongly stated that the actress is holding a pheasant shoot on the Sunday after the ceremony. Game shooting is of course illegal on Sundays and the pheasant season ended on Feb 1. We apologise for the error and accept that if any shooting is to be done it will be by the paparazzi, who have no season and do not observe the Sabbath.

Honesty, not hypocrisy

A letter yesterday about the Anglican rift misstated the final word in a quotation from the former bishop of New Hampshire, the Rt. Rev. Douglas Theuner. He said, “We’re talking about the wrong ‘H’ word: it’s not homosexuality, but honesty” (not “hypocrisy”). Link

UPDATED: Man misidentified as an alleged terrorist

In an article on 13 August 2006 we stated that Samih Ahmed of Walthamstow, east London, had been arrested in connection with the alleged liquid bombs terrorist plot to blow up passenger aircraft. This was incorrect. We accept that Mr Ahmed has never been involved in any terrorist activity nor has he ever been arrested or questioned in connection with any such matters. We apologise to him for distress and embarrassment suffered.

More like this here, here, here and here.

UPDATE February 26: The Guardian ran this correction today:
Samih Ahmed - an apology. In a table headed Suspects, August 12, last year, we stated that Samih Ahmed of Walthamstow had been arrested in connection with the alleged liquid-bombs terrorist plot to blow up passenger aircraft. This was incorrect. Mr Ahmed has never been arrested or questioned in connection with the alleged terror plot and has never been complicit in any terrorist activity. We apologise to Mr Ahmed for the distress and embarrassment caused.

Oh, that Dalai Lama

Christine Bierman has a photograph of her late dog, named The Dalai Lama, hanging on the wall in her office at Colt Equipment Inc. Because of an editing error, the picture was not described correctly in a Friday Business report. Link

Naming names

An article on Page 50 of The Times Magazine today, about Sam Nunn, head of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, misstates the name of a company on whose board he serves. It is Chevron, not ChevronTexaco. The article also misspells the surname of a former secretary of state with whom Nunn and others wrote a recent op-ed article for The Wall Street Journal. He is George P. Shultz, not Schulz. And the article misspells the surname of the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in several references. He is Mohamed ElBaradei, not ElBaredei. Link

Plagiarism at the Michigan Daily

The third time's the charm at the Michigan Daily, a student newspaper. A letter from its editor:

Several articles that have recently appeared in these pages have been found to contain plagiarism...They are:
- "Didn't get your 'Kicks?' indie group struggles with coherent live act" (11/15/06): This piece contained language taken from The Harvard Crimson and chartattack.com.
- "Exploring darker territory" (01/30/07): This entire article was taken from harmoniumusic.com.
- "Ex-Hood member creates, fills 'Need' " (02/07/07): This article contained several passages taken from opuszine.com.
- "From the Daily: More pills, fewer abortions" (09/14/06): This unsigned editorial to which [the writer] contributed contained a phrase taken from The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy.
The Daily does not tolerate plagiarism, and the writer was fired when it came to light earlier this week.
However, this marks the third time since 2004 that plagiarism has been discovered in the Daily. While the act is not entirely preventable, Daily editors share some of the blame.
The previous two times, we promised a comprehensive effort to prevent its reoccurrence. The editors carried out the steps they promised at the time, but some of the initiatives have not been continued with their original rigor.
We have formed a committee to study how to guard against plagiarism more effectively in the long term. I will keep readers updated on its progress on my blog at michigandaily.com/editorspage. Readers can also expect a full report in the print edition before the end of the semester.
The Daily is committed to providing information to the University community with the highest journalistic integrity, and we apologize for this regrettable lapse.
Karl Stampfl
Editor in Chief