Radar

Dept. of Corrections
Introducing: Least Fit to Print!

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Discerning readers know that the most consistently entertaining section of the New York Times (and most papers, really) lives below the fold on page two: The Corrections.

For years, it was amusing to spot in the Times minor factual errors ("Oak Road," rather than "Oak Street") listed alongside major-league gaffes ("1,000 dead," rather than "1,000 injured"). But in the wake of the Wen Ho Lee spy case and the Jayson Blair imbroglio, the paper finally distinguished the two, giving minor errors their own section ("For the Record") and horrific blunders a separate category ("Editor's Note").

The most massive goof in recent memory by the Times, for example, involved a 933-word correction that ran on February 6, 2005, and was logged for posterity by Craig Silverman's website, RegretTheError. It involved 11 separate factual errors.

Inspired by that example, we've decided to bird-dog these blunders for a bit we're calling "Least Fit to Print." Send us the most fouled-up, error-filled stories you can find—the bigger the paper the better. Far from a lame Leno skit, we're looking to shine a light on the most ironic, unexpected snafus. It'll be tough to beat the Times—as of March 19, there are three stories across all sections from Real Estate to Obituaries to the foreign desk, each of which log five errors.

E-mail submissions to tips@radaronline.com

By FI Staff   03/20/07 10:10 AM
Related: Jayson Blair, Wen Ho Lee
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