--- title: "Friday Buzz: Correction, Please" id: "33725" type: "post" slug: "friday-buzz-correction-please" published_at: "2016-06-10T20:35:25+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T16:46:08+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/06/10/friday-buzz-correction-please/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/06/10/friday-buzz-correction-please.md" excerpt: "Did a reporter get your story wrong? Here's why you shouldn't be afraid to ask for a correction. Also: A television news icon explains how to break the ice." taxonomy_category: - "Marketing / Communications" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "Communications" - "media accuracy" - "Public Relations" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "Director" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Friday Buzz: Correction, Please Are you taking the steps necessary to ensure that the media is reporting your story accurately? As it turns out, if you are, you’re the exception rather than the rule. [A 2009 Nieman Reports analysis found (opens in a new tab)](http://niemanreports.org/articles/confessing-errors-in-a-digital-age/) that just one in 10 news sources reaches out to newspaper outlets when reporting errors have been made. And when reporters get it wrong, that can be a huge problem, says Panepento Strategies Principal Peter Panepento. “When you manage the reputation of a nonprofit that is working to advance an important mission, incorrect information—particularly if it’s reported in the media—can damage your ability to raise money and effectively advocate for change,” [Panepento writes on Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog (opens in a new tab)](http://www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com/blog/2016/06/09/what-to-do-when-the-media-gets-your-story-wrong/) . Panepento offers tips on how to handle factual errors and omission errors, as well as one-sided attacks on your organization. The good news is that letting journalists know about the errors often leads to change. “Most journalists strive to get it right,” Panepento adds. “While there are bad actors who masquerade as fair-minded reporters and editors, most of the journalists who I’ve worked with are genuinely concerned about accuracy and will agree to hear out a source who believes that they got something wrong.” [Check out Panepento’s post (opens in a new tab)](http://www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com/blog/2016/06/09/what-to-do-when-the-media-gets-your-story-wrong/) to learn more. ### Resource of the day > US Census Bureau tops list of free, public data sources for associations. Full [@DSKSolutions (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/DskSolutions?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > list at [https://t.co/YPphAU0QnN (opens in a new tab)](https://t.co/YPphAU0QnN) > [#assnchat (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/hashtag/assnchat?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > > — Deirdre Reid, CAE (@DeirdreReid) [June 7, 2016 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/DeirdreReid/status/740240425928249344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) **Trying to build out research** regarding your industry, but don’t know where to find the backbone data to make it truly relevant? Fortunately, DSK Solutions is on top of that, [with a recent blog post from Matt Lesnak (opens in a new tab)](http://dsksolutions.com/lets-take-a-look-at-some-of-the-great-data-out-there/) discussing some of the best places to find that data. “Incorporating publicly available data provides many creative opportunities to further create association analytics to drive data-guided decisions,” Lesnak says. ### Other Links of Note **Still get nervous** when talking to someone you don’t know? Take a cue from a guy who’s talked to a lot of random people during his career: former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, [who shared his icebreaking tips with Fast Company (opens in a new tab)](http://www.fastcompany.com/3060791/tom-brokaw-on-how-to-talk-to-anyone) . **It’s a tandem play:** Print and digital content work better when they support each other, CustomNEWS Digital Media Manager Jenn Waters [writes for the Trade Show News Network (opens in a new tab)](http://www.tsnn.com/news-blogs/wait-second-print-and-digital-support-each-other) . **Emails getting you down?** One strategy worth testing, [LifeHacker suggests (opens in a new tab)](http://lifehacker.com/reduce-inbox-clutter-with-process-centric-email-1781561489) , is to use a “process-centric” email—a longer email that attempts to solve a number of different problems at once. (iStock/Thinkstock) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/) [#Communications](https://associationsnow.com/tag/communications/) [#media accuracy](https://associationsnow.com/tag/media-accuracy/) [#Public Relations](https://associationsnow.com/tag/public-relations/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [Video2025 Summit Award Recipient: American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationOctober 3, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/10/03/2025-summit-award-recipient-american-speech-language-hearing-association/) - [VideoSneak Peek: Highlights from Day 2 of the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 14, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/14/sneak-peek-highlights-from-day-2-of-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) - [VideoSneak Peek: Highlights from Day 1 of the 2025 ASAE MMC+Tech ConferenceMay 13, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/05/13/sneak-peek-highlights-from-day-1-of-the-2025-asae-mmctech-conference/) - [VideoThe Future is Yours to Create. 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