Number of words: 151 Another example in humility and reader interaction is a project by Reuters. It now has a blog called “The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly” on its main Web site. This is where editors respond to feedback (usually complaints or requests for correction) from readers. It’s often akin to a friendly … Read more

Number of words: 111 CHECKING IS … sometimes regarded as a dull and tedious occupation, but such a conception of this position is extremely erroneous. Any bright girl who really applies herself to the handling of the checking problem can have a very pleasant time with it and fill the week with happy moments and … Read more

Number of words: 611 Though few ever accused a proofreader of being a glory hound, the job was made famous during its prime in a 1950s NBC television series based on Adventures of Hiram Holliday, a series of stories by author Paul Gallico. A mild-mannered newspaper proofreader, Hiram Holliday, managed to save his newspaper, the … Read more

Number of words: 123 “I have a friend who was a newspaper proofreader,” it began. “Each knight, he wood read a pre-edition copy to correct errors.” The point is of course that spell-checkers can’t recognize the context of a word. “Knight” is spelled correctly, but it has no place in a sentence about nocturnal activities, … Read more

Number of words: 241 SCHLESINGER WAS THE PRODUCER and narrator of Farewell Etaoin Shrdlu, a documentary made about the last night of “hot type” typesetting at the Times. He also composed a poem and song of the same name. The film is a snapshot of July 2, 1978, the very day when computers killed off … Read more

Number of words: 225 The proofreading room was home to its own soundscape. One of the main responsibilities of a proofreader was to ensure that the type version of a story matched the original copy written and edited by the news team. Proofreaders checked grammar, spelling, and facts and ensured that the spacing and hyphenation … Read more

Number of words: 46 In a March 2 “Culturebox ,” Timothy Noah described the words humbug, poppycock, tommyrot, hooey, twaddle, balderdash, claptrap, palaver, hogwash, buncombe (or “bunk”), hokum, drivel, flapdoodle, and bullpucky as adjectives. In fact, they are nouns.  -Slate Excerpted from page 255 of ‘Regret the Error’ by Craig Silverman

Number of words: 38 WE REFERRED TO THE £250,000 advance for Vikram Seth’s prize-winning novel, “A Suitable Buy.” Although undoubtedly worth every penny, the book is actually called “A Suitable Boy.”  Excerpted from page 244 of ‘Regret the Error’ by Craig Silverman

Number of words: 109 Unfortunately, too many papers merely “scrub” the text of the article to eliminate the incorrect information, never advising the reader of the error or the correction. Scrubbing is troublesome practice because it goes against the ethic of correction: The error is never acknowledged. Scrubbing is, in effect, a cover-up. It’s unprincipled … Read more

Number of words: 446 Nobel is not the only prominent figure whose premature death report precipitated a reaction of historical proportions. In early June of 1897, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was hiding away in London, still mourning the death of his eldest daughter, Susy, and working to make a dent in his … Read more