Lynn Wloszek

Making a mistake in journalism is a unique type of mistake.

It’s unlike having an error in a term paper or on a test. When we make
one mistake at Central Michigan Life, we make 13,500 of them. Then we make
another 40,000 or so on the Internet, which is the average number of hits
our Web site receives each day.

And when we make mistakes, we hear about it. More to the point, I hear about it.

As editor in chief, I am the first one to accept blame when it is due, and I’ll even take it when it isn’t.

Professors, friends, co-workers and people I don’t even know love to point out the mishaps in each issue.

Fortunately though, there haven’t been many this year, with only five corrections in 12 issues.

The ones we have had, depending on who you ask, have been big.

Take Friday’s paper for example, when I somehow made up the word “unaffective.”

I wrote it, but it didn’t get spell-checked. It made its way onto the
front page in 52-point font, above the fold. And it’s my fault.

When mistakes do make it into the paper, it is only after a long editing
chain. Stories, columns and headlines are not just haphazardly thrown onto
the page without anyone paying attention, as I am sure some of our readers
may think.

The chain works like this. When a reporter turns in a story, it is read
and edited by two news editors, then it is edited by our managing editor.
Next, the story is sent to me to edit, and when I am done, I send it to our
design editor, who places the story on the page along with the photographs
and headlines.

A computer printout of the page is made, then edited by two proof readers, both of whom are English majors.

I then take a second look at it, along with our adviser, before we send the completed pages to the printer.

To illustrate the editing process, I had the editorial staff make a tally
of everything they corrected in a two-hour span on Sunday, which is when
we edit and complete the Monday paper.

Between 2 and 4 p.m. our editorial staff caught 147 errors in our reporters’
writing. Everything from Associated Press style errors, grammar goofs and
the word “universitities.”

And with the hundreds of facts that are included in each issue, it’s a miracle that more errors don’t slip past us.

So when you do see a gaffe in the paper and wonder why no one caught such a simple mistake. … Well, I got nothin’.

There’s no excuse for it. You just have to deal with it, move on and hope for — and expect — the best in the next issue.

Here at CM Life, we expect nothing but the best from our writers and editors.
We pride ourselves on the quality of each issue, and we have been recognized
for it.

Last year, CM Life was one of only 17 college newspapers to receive the
coveted Pacemaker award from the Associated Collegiate Press. We are finalists
for the award again this year and plan to make it two in a row.

Sometimes people have to take a step back and remember this is a college
newspaper, written entirely by students. Some members of this staff are still
learning the trade.

But I appreciate the responses I receive from readers who call or e-mail
me to let me know when I mess up. I encourage you to continue to do so.

So wouldn’t it be “ironicer” if there was a mistake in this column about making mistakes?

Well, if there is, I can be confident in knowing someone out there will let me hear about it, and I thank you for it.

It will only make us stronger.

Life Editor Chris Gautz can be told he made a mistake at editor@cm-life.com.

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