Fraters Libertas

Alert the Media

A local subscriber to one of the Star Tribune Electronic Newsletters got this breath taking alert in her email inbox yesterday:

From: Star Tribune Newsletters
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 12:46:57 -0600 (CST)
To: quisling86@yagada.net
Subject: News Alert for Feb. 9

startribune.com News Alert

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry plans a speech at noon in which he will concede the race to President Bush. The president is to address the nation at 2 p.m.

Go to http://startribune.com for details and updates throughout the day.

Well now, that is some breaking news. Especially since I'm not aware the entire editorial staff of the Star Tribune has fully accepted Bush's election victory yet. But I'm glad to see the journalists aren't afraid to stick their necks out for a story they feel strongly about. And thank goodness they've got editors and standards over there, otherwise their newsletter subscribers might have been subject yesterday to an ALERT about Dewey defeating Truman.

Then 26 minutes later, more Star Tribune breaking news arrived:

From: Star Tribune Newsletters
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 13:12:54 -0600 (CST)
To: quisling86@yagada.net
Subject: News Alert for Feb. 9

startribune.com News Alert

Dayton won't run for re-election

Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., said today that he will not run for re-election in 2006. "I do not believe that I am the best candidate to lead the DFL Party to victory next year," Dayton said in a conference phone call with reporters. An earlier version of this newsletter was sent out mistakenly.

Go to http://startribune.com for details and updates throughout the day.

Whoops-a-daisy! Lesson learned, never hit "send" before proofreading your work. It's fun to watch real time on-the-job training at the newspaper, isn't it?

Actually, for the Star Tribune, 26 minutes is a pretty good time for correcting mistakes. Given their typical standards of fact checking and accuracy, I can only imagine how many layers of bureaucracy and denial some poor slob on staff had to fight through in order to get this correction printed.