A local weekly newspaper which admitted to be wrong-footed in a story about socks has been applauded for owning up and correcting the mistake.
The story in the Kent based Faversham News reported that some toys on a stall at Faversham festival had been made out of old socks but they had been made out of new ones.
The newspaper ran a correction on the letters page alongside an editorial comment about shackling the freedom of the press in relation to the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.
This led to a reader writing to the newspaper to congratulate them on highlighting what he saw as the contrast between local and national newspapers.
In his letter Nick Torry said: “You got it wrong and you made an immediate apology and set the record straight.
“While this caused some amusement over our breakfast table it does indeed serve to show a stark difference in approach and responsibility. And when there are serious local campaigns to be fought we can rely on an honest and independent approach.
“We raised a cup of cocoa to our wonderful local newspapers. Our world would be a poorer place without the Faversham News and its ilk.”
Editor of the family-run KM Group title Leo Whitlock said: “This letter really made us smile but also makes a serious point. We throw away the trust of our readers at our peril. We know we’re not perfect. What matters is how you put it right when you have dropped a clanger.”
The correction read: “A Picture of Rebecca and Benjamin Fenn on a stall with toys at the Faversham Festival incorrectly stated they were made out of old socks.
“In fact, the toys are made out of new socks by Lost Socks, run by Leanne Fenn. They are available to buy at Boodiroo in Preston Street, Faversham.”
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OMG.
Can we PUHLEASE all stop jumping on the phone-hacking bandwagon.
This is getting embarrassing.
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Some years ago as an editor I introduced a weekly corrections column in which we put every mistake no matter how small that we or the readers spotted.
It was written in a light-hearted manner unless the errors were particularly bad or on stories that were very serious. Many readers said it was one of the first things they turned to and added to trust in the paper.
Then one day I got a letter from an irate reader telling me the column was “arrogant” for the way it was written adding the paper had “never needed a corrections column before”…I kid you not.
I wrote to the correspondent and explained that alas every paper will make errors and perhaps it was more arrogant not to acknowledge them.
When I left – it was a Newsquest paper – the first thing that was dropped was the corrections column.
A few weeks after that the self same paper splashed on a story about a pensioner whose purse had been stolen by pickpockets.
It transpired – apparently too late for the paper – that the purse had in fact been dropped and someone had handed it in money and all.
This correction never made the paper…
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I can’t wait until local newspapers finally give up the ghost and die out so I never have to read anything as sad as this again.
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The wrong kind of socks! Bless!
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