December 26, 2014

The Best Corrections of 2014

<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&searchterm=newspaper%20mistake&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=85460485">Aaron Amat</a>/Shutterstock

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In 2014, journalists produced a number of solid blunders and fails. That’s bad news for industry esteem, but great news for lovers of hilarious corrections. Here are some of our favorites from the past year:

 

The Economist, Drug Legalization: The magazine’s collective memory gets hazy when attempting to recall the finer details of their push for drug legalization.

 

New York Times, Dick Cheney: An amazing error that speaks volumes about the Bush years.

 

New York Times, Kimye Butts: In a story titled “Fear of Kim Kardashian’s Derriere,” the Grey Lady cites a fake interview where Kanye West compares his butt to the infamous butt of his wife.

 

Mumbai Mirror, Narendra Modi: Sarcasm!

 

NPR, Cow Farts: In a story about gassy cows and climate change, NPR “ended up on the wrong end of cows.”

 

New York Times, “Good Burger”: In which the Times made it embarrassingly obvious their newsroom is unfamiliar with the 1997 film classic, “Good Burger.” (Plus, a bonus #teen error!)

 

Vox, Barry Manilow:  While cataloging the slew of celebrities who appeared on Stephen Colbert’s final show, Vox confuses old white man Barry Manilow for old white man Rod Stewart.

 

New York Times, Gershwin grammar gaffe: Gershwin 101.

 

Courier-Mail, Birth Announcement “Retraction”: Let’s end on a heartwarmer. Well done, Bogert clan!

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WE'LL BE BLUNT.

We have a considerable $390,000 gap in our online fundraising budget that we have to close by June 30. There is no wiggle room, we've already cut everything we can, and we urgently need more readers to pitch in—especially from this specific blurb you're reading right now.

We'll also be quite transparent and level-headed with you about this.

In "News Never Pays," our fearless CEO, Monika Bauerlein, connects the dots on several concerning media trends that, taken together, expose the fallacy behind the tragic state of journalism right now: That the marketplace will take care of providing the free and independent press citizens in a democracy need, and the Next New Thing to invest millions in will fix the problem. Bottom line: Journalism that serves the people needs the support of the people. That's the Next New Thing.

And it's what MoJo and our community of readers have been doing for 47 years now.

But staying afloat is harder than ever.

In "This Is Not a Crisis. It's The New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, why this moment is particularly urgent, and how we can best communicate that without screaming OMG PLEASE HELP over and over. We also touch on our history and how our nonprofit model makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there: Letting us go deep, focus on underreported beats, and bring unique perspectives to the day's news.

You're here for reporting like that, not fundraising, but one cannot exist without the other, and it's vitally important that we hit our intimidating $390,000 number in online donations by June 30.

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