Eliminating corrections

[Doc Holliday]

Our SE has been known to go into stories to proof them and ends up creating new mistakes. Sometimes this is done after the desk has already proofed and set the story.

So who would the SE blame for any of those mistakes getting through? The copy desk, of course.

Boy I've seen that before, by sports editors and news editors and copy editors.

ship happens. Just try to be better. That's all you can really do.

 

[hondo]

For those who put out a section with no safety net, how do you reduce the number of mistakes made, especially on deadline?

You don't.

When the bosses complain, blame them for taking away your safety net.

A nice suggestion, but when it's my job on the line, it's still me that gets fired.

They're the bosses. Since they make the big bucks, see what great ideas they have for eliminating mistakes, since they're the ones who eliminated your safety net.

We had a run of mistakes at an old shop across all sections and the bosses instituted an internal form that had to be filled out if a correction needed to be published. You would have to list the correction, how it happened, how you'd prevent it in the future, blah blah, signed by you and your editor. Sometimes all you could say was "I screwed up" and "Will try harder in the future not to screw up."

I think the form was phased out after about a month.

we had something like that only we were never allowed to put down "I just screwed up." There had to be a reason. Lasted a year.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

For those who put out a section with no safety net, how do you reduce the number of mistakes made, especially on deadline?

You don't.

When the bosses complain, blame them for taking away your safety net.

A nice suggestion, but when it's my job on the line, it's still me that gets fired.

They're the bosses. Since they make the big bucks, see what great ideas they have for eliminating mistakes, since they're the ones who eliminated your safety net.

We had a run of mistakes at an old shop across all sections and the bosses instituted an internal form that had to be filled out if a correction needed to be published. You would have to list the correction, how it happened, how you'd prevent it in the future, blah blah, signed by you and your editor. Sometimes all you could say was "I screwed up" and "Will try harder in the future not to screw up."

I think the form was phased out after about a month.

we had something like that gonly we were never allowed to put down "I just screwed up." There had to be a reason. Lasted a year.

Should then put down, "The reason why this mistake happened is because I took less time to check things out. And the reason why I took less time is because I'm now doing the work of two people thanks to recent layoffs."

My thing about mistakes is that usually, I'd go a long time without making one, then make two in quick succession.

 

[Fredrick]

Really, truly, all newspapers should just cease printing if they insist on having no line of defense against typos, libelous material. I think it's scary as hell to think most newspapers are letting their reporters post stories un-edited and post their own headlines. I can't believe how reckless that is. Imagine if you were some rich corporate ashhole who owned a newspaper. Would you trust some 22 year old kid to post his/her own stories on YOUR company Website? Or put it in your newspaper? I really truly find it impossible to believe publishers risk their reputations/fortunes daily by allowing unedited copy to go in their papers and on their Websites.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

Hopefully, the corrections are for factual errors instead of grammar, etc. In which case, the solution is to develop system (not haphazard) way of fact-checking that works for you given your staffing limitations, or, less ideally, investing some free time in getting to know your locale better -- reading a history or two, visiting historic sites, getting out to some local cultural events such as plays and local bands' gigs. Fun and informative.

 

[babyjay newsignon]

As a copy editor, I know the whole "I made the mistake because you cut staff and there's no one else to edit me" reasoning sounds good, but it means NOTHING to a boss to hear that. Because you still made a mistake, and their point in the whole how-are-we-going-to-do-this-better-next-time exercise is to figure out how to avoid that.

Like someone said, triage the story. Double check the headline. Check it against the facts in the story. Check names in heads and cutlines against the story. Do the math any time there is numbers. A few years back, after a run of bad errors at our shop, the editor had reporters print out every story they wrote and underline every fact as they double-checked it, and turn that in to their editor. Time-consuming but effective if you're having a string of errors.

 

[DanOregon]

Read stories backwards. Finish with the headline. Try and incorporate time to proof in your schedule. Whatever deadline is. Move your own "up" 10-20 minutes for a final glance.

 

[BDC99]

As a copy editor, I know the whole "I made the mistake because you cut staff and there's no one else to edit me" reasoning sounds good, but it means NOTHING to a boss to hear that. Because you still made a mistake, and their point in the whole how-are-we-going-to-do-this-better-next-time exercise is to figure out how to avoid that.

Like someone said, triage the story. Double check the headline. Check it against the facts in the story. Check names in heads and cutlines against the story. Do the math any time there is numbers. A few years back, after a run of bad errors at our shop, the editor had reporters print out every story they wrote and underline every fact as they double-checked it, and turn that in to their editor. Time-consuming but effective if you're having a string of errors.

Do you work in the business or do you live in a fantasy land? Reporters checking facts? HA! Many of the ones I've worked with can't spell all the names right. I double-check as much as I can, but with about half as many people working on a given night than a few years ago, there isn't the time there once was to do that. And I doubt anyone would really tell their boss that mistakes happened because they have slashed the staff. The mistake likely happened because mistakes happen. Humans are imperfect. Sure, you can emphasize the need to make fewer mistakes. You will never eliminate them. Especially if your staff barely has enough time to think.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Read stories backwards. Finish with the headline.

In a thread that will mainly be dedicated to bitching, this is good advice. I forget the first time somebody suggested that, may have been a writing coach at some long-forgotten stop of mine, or maybe in an API session.

I do that quite a bit, especially when I'm having trouble focusing on a piece of work that I've already gone over more than once.

 

[boundforboston]

Read stories backwards. Finish with the headline.

In a thread that will mainly be dedicated to bitching, this is good advice. I forget the first time somebody suggested that, may have been a writing coach at some long-forgotten stop of mine, or maybe in an API session.

I do that quite a bit, especially when I'm having trouble focusing on a piece of work that I've already gone over more than once.

Read backward paragraph by paragraph?

 

[Fredrick]

I don't care what u all say. Newspapers need copy editors/fact checkers. A reporter can write a story and have a brain cramp, so to speak, and get a key fact wrong. In fact it happens all the time, especially when reporters work 60-80 hours a week and get paid for 40 in this new age of understaffing.
I stand by my statement: Just kill your newspaper or your Website, Mr/Mrs publishers/bigash companies like Gannett if you refuse to have copy editors.

I mean you can make the silliest mistake when overworked and not even know it. And as we all know, once you hit that send area on your computer, your mistake is out there for Twitter-verse/Deadspin to mock FOREVER.

 

[Riptide]

I don't care what u all say. Newspapers need copy editors/fact checkers. A reporter can write a story and have a brain cramp, so to speak, and get a key fact wrong. In fact it happens all the time, especially when reporters work 60-80 hours a week and get paid for 40 in this new age of understaffing.
I stand by my statement: Just kill your newspaper or your Website, Mr/Mrs publishers/bigash companies like Gannett if you refuse to have copy editors.

I mean you can make the silliest mistake when overworked and not even know it. And as we all know, once you hit that send area on your computer, your mistake is out there for Twitter-verse/Deadspin to mock FOREVER.

Great post.