— The New York Times routinely devotes space on the first page of its second section for correcting or clarifying errors in its news reports.
Sometimes, however, the goofs prove too embarrassing for this procedure. To call attention to such goofs and other journalistic transgressions by its reporters and the news desk, the Times has an internal bulletin titled “Winners & Sinners” which describes itself as “A bulletin of second-guessing issued occasionally from the news desk of The New York Times.”
The Winners & Sinners issue of Jan. 9 dealt with two goofs which created a great deal of consternation and anger within the Jewish community. A story in the Times Dec. 7 referred to “Perry Como’s Christmas in the Holy Land” which was described as “An hourlong musical special taped on location in Palestine and featuring the popular singer.”
The second story on Dec. 14 stated: “Since joining the Roman Catholic Church’s diplomatic service in 1952, Archbishop Laghi has served in Nicaragua, India, Jerusalem and Palestine and at the Vatican.”
Winners & Sinners commenting on these items, observed: “There hasn’t been a ‘Palestine’ since 1948. An error on so emotional a subject infuriates readers; it’s hard for them to believe that some of us don’t read our own paper. Hard for us to believe, too.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
