DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am a journalist. The other day, I noticed a typo in an online headline from another outlet, so I called around to see if I could notify them. I was unsuccessful.
Eventually, I posted on social media that they should fix it. I only meant for the post to be up an hour or so, but I got busy and forgot to take it down.
My supervisor (another journalist) sent me a note that my post was unprofessional and embarrassing to the other outlet. (We all follow one another.) She wants to meet with me to discuss it.
To be honest, I do not see the problem at all. We should all be held accountable for mistakes made, especially as professional writers and journalists. Why should they get a pass for their error? No one would think twice about telling me to correct something.
What are your thoughts?
GENTLE READER: What you did, it seems to Miss Manners, was the professional equivalent of telling someone publicly that they have spinach in their teeth, rather than the more polite act of doing it discreetly.
If there had been a factual error, you would have had a better case. But publicly pointing out a typo -- especially from a competitive news source -- looks petty. This is quite a different thing from your own editors’ correcting your copy. That is their actual job.
Therefore, Miss Manners is inclined to agree with your supervisor. And she will do you the favor of not questioning your journalistic abilities further by asking how difficult it could possibly be to find the other outlet’s copy editor. Instead, she will strongly suggest that next time, you try harder -- or let it go.
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(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)
