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Last night, an Editor's Note was posted on the "Couric & Co." blog. It reads in full:

Correction: The April 4 Notebook was based on a "Moving On" column by Jeffrey Zaslow that ran in The Wall Street Journal on March 15 with the headline, "Of the Places You'll Go, Is the Library Still One of Them?" Much of the material in the Notebook came from Mr. Zaslow, and we should have acknowledged that at the top of our piece. We offer our sincere apologies for the omission.

"Katie Couric's Notebook" is a regular feature on "Couric & Co." in which Couric reflects on a particular issue on camera. A transcription of her comments is usually posted on "Couric & Co.," along with the video, which is also made available to all CBS owned and operated and affiliate stations. In addition, the audio of her comments is made available to authorized CBS Radio stations.

The April 4 Notebook has now been removed from the site. Mike Sims, director of News and Operations for CBSNews.com, declined to comment about the specifics of the matter. "The Editor's Note speaks for itself," said Sims.

Jim Romenesko has posted a letter from New York Times reporter David Cay Johnston that makes an important point about corrections in the media:

The number of corrections run annually is a lousy measure of actual errors, arguably worse than crime statistics are of actual crime. Indeed, the correction process itself reeks of bias that favors softball journalism.

Continues Johnston:

The correction process is also biased against tough reporting.
Hardly anyone complains about errors that make them look good. All sorts of errors can be found in stories with heroic themes (rescues, crimes solved, etc.) and in stories about politicians, actors and athletes without any complaints.

Lack of corrections should never be taken as an indication that a journalist does quality work. One can write pap and never get a complaint even though the work is riddled with errors of fact, omission and distortion.

Do errors that distort reality by polishing an image differ from those that tarnish? A case can be made that fawning errors do more harm, especially when they advance the careers of politicians, cops, prosecutors, judges, surgeons, scientists and executives who use their power for venal purposes or prove incompetent.

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Craig Silverman, editor of Regret The Error, has contacted PE regarding corrections and how they are handled. The self-described mission of Regret The Error is to report “on corrections, retractions, clarifications and trends regarding accuracy and honesty in the media.” Usually focused on newspapers, most of which have corrections printed on pretty much a daily basis, Silverman today wonders about TV news organizations:

We're often asked why we don't spend more time scrutinizing broadcast media. The answer is simple: With the exception of a few places like NPR and the online operation of MSNBC, the vast majority of broadcast media don't have an online corrections section. Nor do they reserve a portion of their programs to offer corrections to previous stories. In extreme circumstances they will put one online or in a broadcast, but most of the time there's nothing to be found unless someone happens to be watching at the right time.

Silverman e-mailed to alert us to his post (which is complimentary of PE) and to ask us how the network deals with corrections in general and posed several direct questions about corrections at CBS News and CBSNews.com.

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