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 café where Reuters serves itself some humble pie and readers get to enjoy watching editors eat it. It’s about conversation and pulling back the veil on how the news operation works (and occasionally doesn’t). The comments and complaints from readers are often very frank, even harsh, and the replies from editors are equally forthright, albeit sometimes brief.

It’s a great experiment in corrections as conversation because readers get meaningful responses in a public forum and Reuters demonstrates that it does pay attention to reader comments and calls for correction.

Excerpted from page 324 of ‘Regret the Error’ by Craig Silverman