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 Post subject: Extreme grovel
PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 1:25 pm 
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Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 836
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
There was a thread on newspaper apologies recently, which reminded me of this one. This is the most extreme grovel I have ever seen in print. I just found it today, and I can't find the earlier thread to attach it to.<p>From the Picton Gazette, Jan 7, 1987 an editorial and I quote:<p>"Apology<p>"In our November 28 issue of The Gazette, we ran a story concerning the negotiations between the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and Prince Edward Heights (Union, management relations deterioriating at the Heights) which caused considerable embarassement to the administrator, Richard Williams.
"Mr. Williams was concerned that no effort had been made to reach him to get his side of the story. There was an effort made, however, the reporter, Ted West, did not leave his name or telephone number where he could be reached when he was told Mr. Williams was attending a meeting.
"This is not a proper procedure in the newspaper business.
"It is not a normal practice to print stories which offer only one side of the issue. Sometimes, it is impossible to reach the other side, but every effort must be made to reach the person or persons involved.
"This was not the case in this instance and The Picton Gazette was wrong.
"Mr. West was wrong in his treatment of the article and the editor, Ed Reeves, was wrong in letting the story go without Mr. Williams' side of the story.
"We sincerely apologize to Mr. Williams for the embarassment and any damange to his reputation."


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 Post subject: Re: Extreme grovel
PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 8:46 pm 
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Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2003 1:01 am
Posts: 1324
Location: N 36° 57' 9", W 121° 24' 2"
Where can I buy a pair of official Picton Gazette knee pads?


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 Post subject: Re: Extreme grovel
PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:31 am 
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Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2004 1:01 am
Posts: 46
Location: N.C.
Our latest:<p>
"PERSON A didn’t mind seeing his photograph in the Sunday edition of NEWSPAPER A.<p>"And, although he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the re-enactment that was presented at last weekend’s Juneteenth celebration, he concedes that staff writer PERSON B’s article was an accurate portrayal of the event.<p>"What bothered PERSON A was that the photograph of taken of him barbecuing chicken by our photo chief PERSON C accompanied the story about the re-enactment. He stopped by the office Wednesday to share his concerns with me.<p>"For those of you who missed our story, the drama focused on the excitement of former slaves upon learning they had been emancipated. By utilizing the language of the mid-19th century South, the play also stereotypes black Americans as an uneducated and unsophisticated lot.<p>"PERSON A believes that by publishing his photo with that story we were reinforcing those stereotypes about the black community.<p>"As the editor of this newspaper, I want to apologize publicly to PERSON A and anyone else who was offended by our coverage. We should have realized that the juxtaposition of the story and photo would be offensive to some folks.
That was not our intent.<p>"Our goal — as it is whenever we cover community events — was simply to capture the flavor of an important community event for our readers who did not attend the celebration.<p>"Poor planning and internal communication — our writer and photographer were not on the same page (the photographer did not attend the re-enactment for a variety of reasons) — and a lack of cultural sensitivity contributed to our subpar performance.<p>"We’re working to improve in all three of these areas."


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 Post subject: Re: Extreme grovel
PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 11:35 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 1775
Location: Baltimore
<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by EditThis:
Our latest:
"PERSON A didn’t mind seeing his photograph in the Sunday edition of NEWSPAPER A.
... "
<hr></blockquote><p>and on and on and on.<p>Aside from the issue of groveling:
Must be quite a news hole if apologies can run this long.


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