Corrections/correctives

Staffers must notify supervisory editors as soon as possible of serious errors or potential errors, whether in their work or that of a colleague. Every effort should be made to contact the staffer and supervisor before a correction is sent.

When we're wrong, we must say so as soon as possible. When we make a correction, we point it out both to subscriber editors (e.g. in Editor’s notes, metadata, advisories to TV newsrooms) and in ways that news consumers can see it (bottom-of-story corrections, correction notes on graphics, photo captions, etc.)

 A correction must always be labeled a correction. We do not use euphemisms such as "recasts," "fixes," "clarifies," “minor edits” or "changes" when correcting a factual error.

 When we correct an error from a previous day, we ask subscribers that used the erroneous information to carry the correction as well.

 For live broadcasts, we correct errors in the same newscast if at all possible. If not, we make a correction in the next appropriate live segment. Audio correspondent reports that contain factual errors are eliminated and, when possible, replaced with corrected reports.