We make mistakes. We try really hard not to, but they happen.
Sometimes we can’t fit all of the information into a story that people think we should, and sometimes the way we say things makes readers think one thing when that’s not what we were trying to say. We’ve heard both of these complaints this past month.
Putting words together in a compact and readable way, forming stories out of interviews, trying to find the facts behind hints and innuendo can be tricky. We do the best we can and hire several different people to look at all the words before we publish. We try not to make mistakes. Really we do.
But sometimes our fingers simply hit the wrong keys on the keyboard. And sometimes we miss these typos before they get into print. That’s what happened with Woody Gorbach’s name in a photo caption. Twice. Once it was Horvath then it was Gorbath.
Here’s my explanation: My husband is an excellent photographer, but a lousy typist. He claims he had to take typing class twice in high school.
But don’t we have copy editors you ask? Yes, we do. And normally we watch caption information very closely, but the first time around with Mr. Gorbach’s name, we just missed it.
My husband was so upset by his first mistake that we published a correction and I didn’t double-check behind him. If you’ve been married for a while, you probably know what a minefield it can be to second-guess your spouse’s work. Right?
So, we made a mistake — again. Unfortunately it was on the name of an elected official who is also a decorated war hero. Embarrassing.
Mr. Gorbach has been a good sport about these mistakes and we’ve promised him a copy of the photograph as an apology. That’s the least we can do.
And we’ll try not to do it again. But if we do, please let us know. If the mistake we make is factual, we’ll do our best to correct it. Even if it’s a typing error.
— Mary Kate Leming,
Editor
... But here’s something we got right
We won several awards at the Florida Press Association’s Better Weekly Newspapers contest July 24 in Orlando:
Cheryl Blackerby received two first-place awards for environmental and outdoor writing.
Dan Moffett won second place for local government reporting.
Willie Howard won second place for outdoor and recreation writing.
Mary Thurwachter took second place for community history.
Scott Simmons, Jerry Lower and Mary Kate Leming received second place for overall graphic design.
Third place winners were: Mary Hladky, business reporting; Ron Hayes, community history and Emily J. Minor, feature profile.
We are very proud of our award-winning team.
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