Free talk at the Atwater Library Jan. 30

Any Montrealers who are curious about press errors, corrections and accuracy can come hear me give a free lunchtime talk at the Atwater Library (1200 Atwater) on January 30 at 12:30 p.m. Here are the details:

Regretting Errors: The History And Current State of Media Accuracy, Errors, and Corrections
Craig Silverman, author of the new book Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech (Penguin Canada/Union Square Press), will deliver a tour of history and today's most outrageous and entertaining media mistakes and corrections, while also highlighting what over 70 years of scholarly research tells us about the level of accuracy in newspapers and television news. Learn how "Dewey Defeats Truman" happened and discuss the challenges and opportunities for press accuracy in the Internet age.

Silverman is a Montreal author, journalist and the editor of RegretTheError.com, an award winning website that reports on media errors and corrections. His writing has appeared in publications including The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Montreal Gazette, Editor & Publisher, and Report On Business magazine, amoung others. He writes The Office, a weekly workplace culture column and blog for The Globe And Mail, and The Explainer, a weekly news column for Hour.

Seriously, please come by. Please!

UPDATE: My peeps at Hour were kind enough to put this event on the Hit List. Awesome.

January 23, 2008 | Filed Under Regret the Error Book | Leave a Comment 

Bloggers rule the Test

We heckled, laughed, screamed, chanted, begged for water, frightened Samantha Bee, annoyed Wendy Mesley and, most importantly, dominated. I speak of last night's performance by the blogger team on Test the Nation. It was a blast.

Over 30 Wordpress monkeys were flown to Toronto to square off against cab drivers, celebrity look-alikes, chefs, backpackers and flight crews. We talked a big game before the show and delivered on every front. The bloggers had the highest team score, the highest individual score, and the highest celebrity score. Samantha Bee wiped the floor with her competition. Then she stayed around afterwards to take photos and generally be nice to everybody. This was especially appreciated after we had relentlessly chanted "Bee, Bee, Bee" at every opportunity. Seriously, we were fucking loud. Even during the test. Wendy Mesley would read out a question and inevitably someone in our section would have a smartass comment to make. We were cracking up the entire time. And getting the answers correct to boot.

On a personal note, it was great to meet some of the folks from Torontoist and Photojunkie in person. I also got to hang with the lovely and talented Lainey, who very nicely took a copy of my book. And I slipped a copy into the hands of Samantha Bee. All in all, a good time. Some pics are below. Oh, and I think I got about 54 or 55 out of 60 correct. Holla!

UPDATE Jan 23: I just received my final score -- 54/60. Not too shabby. Also, this is the best round-up I've read so far. Check it out.

Me and Kiss!

Kiss, Pamela Anderson, Shakira, Paris Hilton. No idea who the woman in between Pam and Shakira is supposed to be.

They gave each team props. Backpackers got flags, cab drivers got steering wheels, chefs got kitchen stuff...we got keyboards and the occasional computer mouse. I often brandished mine like a weapon and screamed "I've got a mouse!" It was funny at the time. Okay, maybe not. But this was my mouse.

A look at the set.

This was the controller used to input answers. Very complicated piece of technology.

Another shot of the studio. The air was very dry and featured a light dusting of fake smoke. We soon became extremely thirsty and begged for water.

Taken shortly after our victory.This is the awesome Andy Nulman holding the trophy.

January 21, 2008 | Filed Under Personal, Random Goodness, Regret the Error Press | 2 Comments 

Bad news, good news

Juan Antonio Giner writes a fantastic blog about innovations in newspapers. He's the founder of the INNOVATION Media Consulting Group, which does amazing work redesigning and reimagining newspapers. I read the blog because he often posts images and page layouts of the company's work. They never fail to impress. But in a somewhat off-topic post from today, he points to a Dow Jones story about the economy that delivers one of the best one-two punches of bad news, good news I've ever seen:

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2,000 points this morning when scientists reported that the earth would soon hit a giant comet and be obliterated.

However, stocks rebounded in the afternoon after the Federal Reserve cut interests rates.

We're all going to die! But at least we'll have access to cheap capital!

(Image credit)

January 10, 2008 | Filed Under Colleagues' articles, Random Goodness | Leave a Comment 

MTL Gazette on Regret the Error book

Earlier this week I picked up the phone to hear Bill Brownstein, a columnist for The Gazette (Montreal), on the other line. Bill and I have never met, but we share a few friends in common and I've long been a reader of his columns. It was great to speak with him, and especially nice that he called looking to write something about my book. I sent a copy to his house, did a subsequent phone interview, and his column appeared in today's paper. The man works -- and reads -- fast. In true Brownstein fashion, it's an enjoyable read. Check it online here. Excerpt below.

In the world of quirky media corrections, this sharp-eyed author is king

Regret the error, by Craig Silverman

BILL BROWNSTEIN
The Gazette

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Some kids collect coins. Craig Silverman collected corrections. Newspaper corrections from around the planet, that is. Winters were long for Silverman growing up in Nova Scotia. He had plenty of time on his hands.

Winters proved to be even longer for Silverman when he moved to Montreal 12 years ago to pursue journalism studies at Concordia University. He had less time on his hands, but his interest in collecting corrections remained unabated. So much so he started and became editor of the RegretTheError.com website.

Silverman, though only 30, is now considered to be among the world's foremost authorities on corrections - admittedly, not exactly an overpopulated field. His expertise has been sought by media giants like CNN, the New York Times and the Guardian.

And there's no stopping him now, thanks to the recent publication of Silverman's Regret the Error (Viking, $30), a compendium of more than 300 media corrections as well as a treatise on the subject. The corrections are often hysterically funny, though on occasion rather tragic and/or just plain baffling. The treatise is a historical overview filled with fascinating factoids. The book is a must, not only for zealous copy editors but for everyone obsessed with the business of news gathering and delivery.

In his foreword, Jeff Jarvis makes this stunning observation: "Nobody's perfect - not even journalists ... especially not journalists." Who knew? Kidding aside, Jarvis, who is a journalist, follows with this all-too-sobering point: "The public's trust in news organizations is falling about as fast as their revenues are (and, yes, these facts may be related.)" All by way of saying the faster news organizations admit their mistakes and correct them, the faster the public's trust might be restored.

Silverman reports in a survey conducted in 1985, 84 per cent of Americans believed most of what they had read in newspapers. But by 2004, that number had dipped to 54 per cent. He also cites a 2007 Canadian poll in which only 26 per cent of respondents trusted journalists, just slightly better than those with faith in lawyers, car salesmen, mechanics, CEOs and politicos.

Silverman insists both the book and the website were inspired by a clarification printed on the front page of Kentucky's Lexington Herald-Leader on

July 4, 2004: "It has come to the editor's attention that the Herald-Leader neglected to cover the civil rights movement. We regret the omission."

Alrighty then.

"I began to realize that no one was paying serious attention to corrections and that the issue of accuracy wasn't really being addressed," Silverman explains from his Plateau digs. "I also realized there would be tons of untapped content for a book."

And he knew where to dig it up. "I lead a very exciting life whereby I read between 100 and 200 corrections a day," says the author, also a columnist for the Globe and Mail and Hour. "I find them online and I scan the corrections pages of newspapers and other news organizations to find the content for the book as well as my site. I'm pretty sure there is no one else in the world who has read more corrections than me. I think I've surpassed the 100,000 mark by now. But I have to be honest and admit I'm a poor speller who has made more than my share of errors. Like using 'pubic' instead of 'public.' I guess I do this work with a sense of sympathy for others who make mistakes."

...

January 6, 2008 | Filed Under Montreal Gazette, Regret the Error Book, Regret the Error Press | Leave a Comment 

The value of engaging citizens in the news process

Though I was involved with Assignment Zero, the first project undertaken by NewAssignment.net, I have to confess that I've been a bit out of touch with how NewAssignment has evolved. But thanks to a Tweet by the ever-engaged Matthew Ingram, I was directed to a post by David Cohn on the NewAssignment website. I was a fan of Dave's during our work on Assignment Zero and he makes a good point about the value of projects such as NewAssignment:

Since this project launched I’ve always said, even if we don’t improve the quality of news (which I hope we do), we re-engage citizens in the news process and this is a benefit to democracy. Democracy rests its fate on engaged citizens - people who consume the news but also go out and make news happen.

The emphasis we put on Pro-Am is about re-engaging people into the news process, so they are introduced to concepts and aspects of our society that they can continue to pursue after the reporting is done. That’s how you create a strong democracy.

In the past news organizations would show people problems in our society in the hopes of spurring action. In truth, however, we probably lost their attention in the first 10 minutes. But instead of showing people, the Pro-Am model engages people. It asks them to tell news organizations what they see, think and feel. That is a call to action and the hope is that it is one that continues after the reporting.

Society as a whole wins when people are encouraged to participate in the news process and are given the means to do so. I tend to focus on how we can get people to take more of a role in detecting and correcting errors, but my micro approach only serves to illustrate that there are so many different ways to bring the public into the news process.

January 5, 2008 | Filed Under Colleagues' articles, NewAssignment.net | 1 Comment 

The 2007 Office Awards

It's been about nine months since I started writing The Office column and blog for The Globe And Mail, and my December 31 offering was a look back at the year in workplace stories. It's online here and the full text is below.

The 2007 Office Awards
Looking back at a long year on the job
CRAIG SILVERMAN
December 31, 2007

From gun-toting co-workers to bosses who bring in police dogs and hired thugs, it was a year of the ridiculous and the sublime in the world's workplaces. Here's the best of the best, the best of the worst, and the ones we still can't quite understand.

Worst Workplace: Chinese brick kilns

Office denizens ain't got nothin' on the grievances of workers at Chinese brick kilns. Kiln owners were found to have engaged in “illegal employment practices, abduction, restricting workers' personal freedom, employing child labourers and even murder.” What else? Owners “made use of fierce guard dogs and hired thugs, who bashed labourers, adults or children, at will.” Oh, poor you and your lightless cubicle.

Worse Employee: Drunk ambulance driver

Police pulled over an ambulance driver in West Virginia after they saw him run two red lights. They soon discovered he had a patient in the back and that he thought he had turned on his siren and lights. Then, big surprise, he failed a field sobriety test. Get me 40 ccs of unemployment, stat!

Best Office Time-Waster: Faceball

Two employees at photo-sharing website Flickr this year created Faceball, the latest in office gaming (check it out at Faceball.org). The concept is simple: Two people sit in chairs three metres apart and lob a beach ball at each other's face. A facial hit garners one point. The Faceball slogan? “Your face, our balls.” The lure of said balls? “It's actually enjoyable getting hit in the face by your opponent,” said Dunstan Orchard, one of the creators.

Best Office Exit: Angry auction employee

From a farewell e-mail sent by a Christie's employee to colleagues at the auction house: “I feel it is best to quickly express my fondest appreciation for some of the endearing ideas that I have seen peddled around me: like how everyone seems to be replaceable, thinking outside the box is liken to heresy, favouritism is thicker than water and speaking the truth gets you in trouble.” Anyone for farewell drinks?

Worst Workplace Idea: Police-dog training

A New Zealand grocery distributor upset employees after announcing a plan to let law enforcement officials use its facilities to train police dogs. Included in the announcement was a totally unrelated reminder that the possession of drugs and weapons at work was illegal. “This is a workplace, not a prison,” Laila Harre, a union official, told a local paper. “This is about the training needs of the police and the whim of bosses to scare the living shit out of us.” If all goes well, employees may expect to see SWAT training on the premises next year. Drop that kumquat and kiss the floor, produce punk!

Most Dedicated Employee: Carla Bird

Ms. Bird, an assistant at Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios, worked 800 hours of overtime during a 17-week period, which equals roughly 12 or 13 hours a day, seven days a week. But the kicker was that her claim for $32,000 (U.S.) of overtime was paid in full. Maybe it's time to hire the assistant an assistant?

Best Lawsuit Excuse: Massages and sausage

James Bonomo, a former paper-sales manager for Mitsubishi International Corp., sued the company alleging he was subjected to a night of drunken karaoke followed by a forced “non-sexual massage” at a bathhouse while on a business trip to China. While in the bathhouse, he alleges, his supervisor compared his penis to an “Italian sausage” and another colleague snapped a picture of it with a cellphone. Even Dunder Mifflin's paper salesmen would be appalled.

Serves You Right Award: The Texas shooter

An employee at Al Boenker Insurance in Texas shot himself in both legs after bringing a gun to work and placing it in the pocket of his jacket. According to one media report, “The bullet passed through the man's left leg and then his right leg and through the corner of a bookcase before lodging in the wall of a cubicle occupied by a startled female co-worker.”

The local police chief said the man “just felt the need to carry it” that day. Now he'll just feel the need to walk with a cane.

Most Evil Gadget: GZ PC-Sport

The obsession with desk-bound exercise continued unabated this year. The worst piece of office exercise equipment was the GZ PC-Sport, a step machine that connects to your computer and fits under your desk. If you stop stepping, it freezes your keyboard or mouse. As if that doesn't happen enough already.

Best Work Quote: Gregg Adams

Mr. Adams, a professor of veterinary biomedical sciences at the University of Saskatchewan's Western College of Veterinary Medicine, spends his days arm-deep in the rectums of various animals to check if they're pregnant.

When asked about his job, he said, “Have I been pooped on by an elephant and a rhinoceros? Yes. I've been up to my shoulders in it.” Keep reaching for the, er, stars, Gregg!

Outstanding Achievement in Special Effects: IvanAnywhere

Ivan Bowman is a Nova Scotia-based employee of iAnywhere Solutions, based in Waterloo, Ont. In order to make his presence felt in the office that's 1,350 kilometres from his home, the company created IvanAnywhere, a robot stand-in that roams the hallways and attends meetings. Everyone seems to like it, but wait until they realize THE ROBOT ACTUALLY CONTROLS THEM!

Sources: Daily Mail, Kitchener-Waterloo Record, PassiveAggressiveNotes.com,, Manawatu (New Zealand) Standard, The New York Times, Shanghai Daily, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Fort Worth (Tex.) Star-Telegram, Associated Press.

January 4, 2008 | Filed Under Columns, Feature articles, Newspaper articles, The Globe And Mail, The Office | 1 Comment 

Test the bloggers

Do you see the pensive people in this photo? They're what you call bloggers, and I'll be counted among them when the CBC airs the next edition of Test The Nation on January 20th. I've been drafted as part of the team of bloggers who'll be taking the test live on TV that night. We're going up against chefs, cab drivers, celebrity look-alikes, backpackers, and flight crews. Hanging out with the look-alikes is going to be hilarious, though I've now got beef with the Mick Jagger look-alike. In an online Q&A, CBC asked him which team he most wanted to beat.

"Bloggers - all they do is criticize," he said.

Oh snap, fake Mick Jagger offered up some real criticism. It's on!

The list of participating bloggers is online here, and we've got a good Montreal contingent. Hugh McGuire, Julien Smith and Andy Nulman are three of the locals who got picked. Julien also wrote a post about the event, noting that I plan to enjoy some drinks in Toronto with my fellow bloggers. But not on the day of the show, of course.

Tune in on the 20th if you have a chance. I'll do my best to properly embarrass myself.

January 4, 2008 | Filed Under Regret the Error Press | 1 Comment