Nobody likes to have to do a correction, which is partly why they’re done so rarely and often so obscurely. But if you’ve got to do one, do it right.
That’s what AP seems to have done with a recent school funding story (Correction: Education Dollars story) by putting the correction and the substance of the error up at the top of the story:
“In a story Jan. 21 about state education finance reform, The Associated Press reported erroneously that local school levies were billed per $100,000 in assessed property value. The taxes range from less than a dollar per $1,000 in assessed property values to $5 or more per $1,000 in value, not per $100,000 in value.”
Kudos to the team at AP for making a correction that has a decent chance of working for readers. Tsk, tsk to others for avoiding them at all costs and making them so obscure.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexander Russo
Alexander Russo is founder and editor of The Grade, an award-winning effort to help improve media coverage of education issues. He’s also a Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship winner and a book author. You can reach him at @alexanderrusso.
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