Reply #5: You got a *correction* out of it, or a clarification

[Oeditpus Rex]

Newspapers rarely, if ever, have to print retractions. When they do, it means, "We got it completely wrong — so wrong that we're humiliating ourselves to avoid a lawsuit."

If I knew what the story was about, or what organization you represent, I could be less of an ass about it, but I'm not gonna ask. I've written and edited a few stories about benefits put on by service organizations — the kind where a couple hundred under-privileged kids get new school clothes, for example — because I had the advantage of having been with those organizations and working on those types of projects.

Most newspapers don't have anyone with an understanding of how that kinda stuff works, and from the other side of it, I've gotten as angry at editors and reporters as you probably have. It's like, "Dude, I did NOT say the money goes directly to the schools! How could you get that wrong??"