There is nothing more embarrassing than to come across a mistake in our newspaper. In 22 years as an editor and reporter, I’ve been faced with a few doozies.

Like it or not, mistakes are a part of this business. We deal with literally thousands of facts and figures every week on some immensely complex subjects. Faced with just a few days of reporting and production time, stuff happens: numbers are transposed, names are misspelled, concepts are misunderstood, quotes are taken out of context.

That’s not an apology, but a reality.

When an error is discovered whether by a reader, news source or on our own we correct it. Period. Not on page 85 (as many newspapers used to do), but on the bottom of page 5. In addition, memos are prepared that detail why the error occurred and how it can be avoided in the future.

As a news organization, credibility is our sole strength. If we don’t take seriously the errors we make, why should our readers take us seriously?

Mark Lacter

Editor