Should you "correct" the media? It's usually unacceptable

A newspaper writes a story on your company and spells the CEO's name wrong. Do you call in and ask for a correction?

No. In fact you almost never should ask for a correction. Often I see a correction on a negative news article, and I'd never seen the original article. If the company had not asked for a correction, that negative publicity would not have been noticed by me at all. You are giving the story another day in the news cycle -- shooting yourself in the foot.

So if they said you have 800 employees and you have 1,000, leave it go. If they misquote you a little bit, leave it go.

Here is the rule: Only ask for a correction if there is a MATERIAL cost to the company resulting from the error. Example: Let's say a nonprofit is having a fundraiser May 15, but they get the date wrong. That will cost the organization both money and reputation equity if people miss the event and show up on the wrong date. So if there is a dollar cost that you can pinpoint, and it is significant, THEN ask for a correction.


Steve Cebalt, Problem Solver, Highview Public Relations www.highviewhelp.com
"Reputation and Crisis Management" (260) 471-5870 e-mail: info@highviewhelp.com