Misteaks Were Made

“Back when I was a cub reporter at The Peoria Journal Star, I was moping around the office kicking myself over some ridiculous thing I got wrong. One of the veteran reporters pulled me aside. ‘Hey, Vecsey,’ he said. ‘Look: Doctors bury their mistakes. Lawyers lock theirs away. But reporters print theirs for the whole damn world to see.’

 

“In the 30-some years from then to now, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you have to shake off your mistakes and move on. And someday, by God, I will learn how to do that.”  

 

—David Vecsey, copy editor, “Because of an Editing Error: Blunders, gaffes and terrible math skills, written inpermanent ink,” The New York Times, Jan. 3, 2021.

 

• Editorial Comment: Get me rewrite.

 

 

 

PeezPIX

Clown Car

 

 

 

 

 

 

Need some bad jokes and silly stories? Check out the April Senior News, “A Little April Foolishness.” Available free at all the best news establishments.

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“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard