This is where I will post all corrections for the Regret The Error book. I encourage readers to sign up at the right for the email newsletter. This will ensure you are automatically emailed any new corrections posted to this site. It’s the easiest way to stay up to date. There is also an RSS feed for corrections.
If you own the book and noticed an error, I ask you to please use this form to notify me of the need for a correction. You can also use it send me feedback about the book, both positive and negative. I will post a selection of the letters on the main page of the book site.
I look forward to hearing from you!
May 22, 2009 – 4:12 pm
Location: Chapter 6, page 149, first paragraph
Incorrect passage: “Reporters should always ask themselves that classic question: Qui bono? Who benefits?”
Number of errors: 1
Correction: Qui bono is incorrect. The sentence should have used “Cui bono.”
Submitted by: David Brodzinski
Note: This correction was issued after the paperback edition was released.
March 12, 2008 – 9:30 pm
Location: Chapter 5, page 129, fifth paragraph
Incorrect passage: “A column in yesterday’s Today section implied that the National Football League would never return the Super Bowl to Detroit. The football championship is scheduled to return to the city next year.”
Number of errors: 1
Correction: This correction is placed within the collection of “Fuzzy Numbers” corrections, but it is not a numerical error. It is better suited to the “Strange and Sublime” corrections that begin on page 249.
Submitted by: Joel Flaxman
March 12, 2008 – 9:13 pm
Location: Chapter 7, page 169, fourth paragraph
Incorrect passage: “Certainly, he was one Nobel winner with whom Alfred Nobel would have a felt a special kinship.”
Number of errors: 1
Correction: There is an additional “a” in between “have” and “felt.”
Submitted by: Dan Ilika
February 1, 2008 – 11:29 am
Location: Chapter 1, page 24, second paragraph
Incorrect passage: “And when there appears any material mistake in anything that is corrected, it shall be corrected in the next.”
Number of errors: 1
Correction: The correct quote from Benjamin Harris is “And when there appears any material mistake in anything that is collected, it shall be corrected in the next.” (Emphasis mine.)
Submitted by: The author.
January 31, 2008 – 11:14 am
Location: Chapter 7, page 184, first paragraph
Incorrect passage: “A story obituary and headline about Martinsburg lawyer Robert M. Steptoe in the Sunday Gazette-Mail wrongly said Steptoe was the chief executive officer of the law firm Steptoe & Johnson. His son, Robert M. Steptoe Jr., is the managing partner and CEO of Steptoe & Johnson. Also, the front-page photograph was of Robert Steptoe Jr., not his deceased father. We regret the error.”
Number of errors: 1
Correction: This correction is listed on page 184 (obiticide corrections) and page 210 (photo misidentification corrections). It should appear on page 210, rather than in both places.
Submitted by: Chris
January 31, 2008 – 10:58 am
Location: Chapter 4, page 69, third paragraph
Incorrect passage: “Meyer attempted to resolve the source-versus-reporter issue in a 1998 study that compared source claims of error with those acknowledged by reporters.”
Number of errors: 1
Correction: The study was published in 1988, not 1998. (The endnotes list the correct date.)
Submitted by: David Gibson, Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania
January 31, 2008 – 12:09 am
Location: Chapter 8, page 200, first paragraph
Incorrect passage: “…it could make them reticent to seek out the press to publicize a wrong or call attention to an important issue.”
Number of errors: 1
Correction: The word “reticent,” a synonym for secretive, was used incorrectly in the above sentence. The correct word is “reluctant.”
Submitted by: Jessie L. Mayer, retired proofreader
January 9, 2008 – 9:43 pm
Location: Chapter 3, page 51, photo caption
Incorrect passage: “Harry S Truman celebrates his 1948 presidential victory…”
Number of errors: 1
Correction: In keeping with the style guide for the book, his name should read, “Harry S. Truman.”
Submitted by: Connie
November 23, 2007 – 11:50 am
Location: Chapter 10, page 234, sixth paragraph
Incorrect passage: “In Canada, only the two national newspapers — the Globe and Mail and the National Post – have dedicated online corrections pages.”
Number of errors: 1
Correction: The Toronto Star also has an online corrections page and was unfortunately left off the list. Its page is located here.
Submitted by: Kathy English, Public Editor, Toronto Star
November 23, 2007 – 11:35 am
Location: Chapter 5, page 100, fourth paragraph
Incorrect passage: “The suspect, named Professor William Cockerham, never taught at the University of Alabama, but teaches at Frenso Pacific University.”
Number of errors: 1
Correction: The correct name of the university is “Fresno Pacific University.” The word “Fresno” was misspelled in the book.
Submitted by: Aldous Russell
