Note to T-J: How an honest paper owns up to errors

Oh, how embarrassing! The New York Times, which many regard as the best newspaper in the world, had weeks of warning that Walter Cronkite was gravely ill. Like most large newspapers, the Times routinely prepares advance obits of famous subjects. In this case, it prepared both an obit and an Arts Section appraisal of the anchor's life's work. Two experienced writers and at least seven editors pored over the material. Two days before Cronkite's death, after CBS News discovered errors in the obituary material it had prepared in advance, Cronkite's son Chip emailed a senior Times editor to suggest a similar preemptive review of the paper's advance obit. Despite all this preparation, the Times's July 17, front-page obituary contained two errors, and the Arts Section appraisal fully seven. The result was this embarrassing correction: