The internet has unquestionably made it easier for readers to interact with big media organizations — and that includes calling them out on mistakes. Still, you've really got to hand it to The New York Times. Internet or no, the paper of record has long exhibited unrivaled diligence when it comes to issuing corrections. And because the paper addresses every minute inaccuracy with the same strident gravitas, it's often quite "funny to hear pop-culture quibbles addressed in the Gray Lady's formal language," says Josh Dzieza at The Daily Beast. Without further ado, some of the year's most endearing Times corrections:
1. "Navigating Love and Autism"
Correction: "An article on Monday about Jack Robinson and Kirsten Lindsmith, two college students with Asperger syndrome who are navigating the perils of an intimate relationship, misidentified the character from the animated children's TV show My Little Pony that Ms. Lindsmith said she visualized to cheer herself up. It is Twilight Sparkle, the nerdy intellectual, not Fluttershy, the kind animal lover."
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2. "Fanfare for the Comma Man"
Correction: "An earlier version of this article misstated the length of time E.B. White wrote for The New Yorker as five centuries."
3. "Food for Hungry Fans of the Boss"
Correction: "An earlier version of this article misspelled the singer's surname in a number of places. He is Bruce Springsteen, not Springstein."
4. "Gore Vidal Dies at 86; Prolific, Elegant, Acerbic Writer"
Correction: "An obituary on Gore Vidal on Wednesday included several errors. Mr. Vidal called William F. Buckley Jr. a crypto-Nazi, not a crypto-fascist, in a television appearance during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. While Mr. Vidal frequently joked that Vice President Al Gore was his cousin, genealogists have been unable to confirm that they were related. And according to Mr. Vidal's memoir Palimpsest, he and his longtime live-in companion, Howard Austen, had sex the night they met, but did not sleep together after they began living together. It is not the case that they never had sex."
5. "Suspect in Libya Attack, in Plain Sight, Scoffs at U.S."
Correction: "An earlier version of this article misidentified the beverage that Ahmed Abu Khattala was drinking at the hotel. It was a strawberry frappe, not mango juice, which is what he had ordered."
6. "Eileen Moran, Special Effects Wizard, Dies at 60"
Correction: "An obituary on Wednesday about Eileen Moran, a visual effects producer, misstated the name of a character she helped create for a series of Budweiser commercials. It was Louie the Lizard, not Larry the Lizard."
7. "S.E.C. Weighs Suit Against SAC Capital"
Correction: "An article on Thursday about efforts by the hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen to defend his firm, SAC Capital Advisors, against a government inquiry into insider trading misstated the size of Mr. Cohen's house in Greenwich, Conn. It is 35,000 square feet, not 14,000."
8. "In Shake-Up, Apple's Mobile Software and Retail Chiefs to Depart"
Correction: "An article on Tuesday about an executive shake-up at Apple described incorrectly an element of Apple's Game Center app that involves so-called skeuomorphic design. It is a simulation of a felt-covered table, not the thread of a leather binder."
9. "Homeless Man Is Grateful for Officer's Gift of Boots. But He Again Is Barefoot."
Correction: "An article in some editions on Monday about Jeffrey Hillman, the homeless and barefoot man for whom New York Police Officer Lawrence DePrimo bought a pair of boots — an act captured on camera and celebrated across the country — misspelled the name of the store where the officer made the purchase. It is Skechers, not Sketchers."
