The ethics of corrections

It's often said that a lie is half way around the world before the truth even gets out of the starting gate. I was reminded of that after reading a recent local story in the newspaper.

One of my pet peeves is that the big story gets a blaring headline of the front page or the lead on the 6:00 news. But the correction to the critical piece of information is buried on page D49; at least newspapers run corrections, something you almost never see on television news. This isn't limited to local media; it seems everyone plays fast and loose with accuracy.

Sometimes, corrections aren't even listed as corrections.

In Glens Falls, there has been a bit of controversy surrounding a group that calls itself The Juggalos after a band. The group hangs out in the park in front of the public library generally being a nuisance, but not enough to allow the police to take action. Some people think they're intimidating because they dress as 'goths.' I don't care how they dress but if they are intimidating, it's because there are so many of them and they often block the entrance to the library.

Two of their members was arrested on charges of armed robbery and the daily Post-Star made a big play of this. The next day, the paper ran an interview with one of their (non-arrested) members who tried to explain that they weren't scary people just because they dressed differently. I thought this was fair.

Not long after, several people were arrested in relation to an arson fire that ruined a kindergarten classroom in nearby Fort Edward They were also identified as being part of The Juggalos by The Post-Star. That fact was featured prominently in a big front page headline entitled: 'Juggalos linked to second crime.'

The next day, the paper corrected itself. But you wouldn't notice if you weren't paying close attention.

In a followup story, meekly titled 'One indicted in school arson: Other indictments, charges expected against additional youths,' the paper reported:

[The suspect Brian] Kozelouzek's younger sister, 16-year-old Lacey Kozelouzek, who was among the teens charged with criminal trespass in the fire, said neither she nor her brother were involved with the Glens Falls group that calls itself Juggalos.

This nugget was casually buried near the end of the article.

And it wasn't even labelled as a correction or clarification.

There wasn't even any admission that the previous report was unintentionally erroneous.

I don't blame the paper for their initial reporting; they were merely passing along what police had told them. But once they discovered this fact which blatantly contradicts their previous reporting, you'd think they would've given it a little more play. You'd think they would've at least prefaced the above sentence with, "Contrary to what The Post-Star had been informed previously,..." or something like that.

No one expects a media outlet to be perfect. Especially when reporting on an ongoing investigation where the story can change many times. But journalistic ethics should dictate a mistake in a blaring front page headline merits more than the non-correction it got in this case.

I'm sure The Post-Star would deny that they are trying to smear this group and I take them at the word. But you can see how someone could be mistaken for thinking otherwise.