Jess Crimson, reporter for The Jungle, hated issuing corrections, but with the shortage of time and editors, it was bound to happen. When she did make a mistake, she liked to call the person she had wronged in the article and apologize.
The person she needed to call was Caleb Smith, who was running for city council.
“Hi Jess,” Caleb said over the phone. It was noisy in the background. She guessed he was at his campaign office. “Loved the article. You captured our vision of bus stop campaigning well.”
“Thanks, Caleb. Glad I could report the story,” Jess said. “I need to apologize, though. I’m really sorry, but we’re going to have to issue a correction.”
“About what?”
“I mistakenly talked about the seahorse pin you were wearing, identifying you with the Seahorse Society. They called to let me know that you’re not in the Seahorse Society. I should have asked you about it. Where did you get the pin?”
“My daughter gave it to me as a Father’s Day gift.”
“That’s a sweet story. I’m sorry I made the mistake.”
“Don’t apologize,” Caleb said. “We have received so many donations from people who support the Seahorse Society. It’s changed our campaign.”
“Well, I still have to issue a correction,” Jess said.
“What will the correction look like?” Caleb asked.
“We’ll add the correction to the bottom of the article.”
“So no one will read it. It probably won’t stop the donations. Thanks, Jess. If I win this thing, your mistake probably turned the election.”
When Jess got off the phone, she called Caleb’s rival candidate. She needed to figure out how to level the playing field in the race.