Corrections

I get things wrong. When that happens I fix it out in the open and say what changed, because a publication that quietly edits its mistakes is telling you something about itself.

How a correction works here

When I correct a factual error, a dated note goes at the bottom of the story saying what was wrong and what it says now. The old wording stays visible in the note. What I won’t do is silently edit a live piece and leave it looking like it was right the whole time.

Typos and dead links just get fixed. No note, nothing to see.

What counts

Any factual error. A wrong number, a quote put on the wrong person, a bad date, a document I characterized badly, a name I misspelled. If it changes what you’d take away from the piece, it gets a note.

The ones you never see

Most of what gets corrected never reaches you, because it dies first.

On an investigation I test my own findings against the primary documents and throw out the ones that don’t survive, and I keep a record of what got thrown out and why. That process is the reason the corrections list is short, and it’s a better use of your trust than a clean-looking archive.

If something already published turns out to rest on a claim I can’t support, I’ll say so in the piece. I won’t delete it and move on.

Telling me

Email lamar@laterstack.com with the link and what you think is wrong, or reach me through the Contact page. A source helps if you have one, but it isn’t required.

I answer every correction request, including the ones I decide not to act on, and I’ll tell you why on those too.

Related

How Laterstack Uses AI
Editorial Standards and Ethics
About Laterstack