Corrections Policy

Correction, clarification, update

These are three different things, and we say which one we are doing. A correction fixes something we got factually wrong: a wrong name, a wrong number, a quote attributed to the wrong person. A clarification means the facts were right but the writing still let a reader walk away with something untrue, usually through a missing qualifier or a headline that outran the story. An update adds new information to a story that was accurate when it published, which on a developing story can happen many times in a day.

The labels are not cosmetic. Calling a correction an update is one of the oldest moves on a news website, and we do not use it. If the first version was wrong, the note uses that word.

The note goes on the story, and the story stays put

Corrections are made on the original article at its original address. The note is dated, says what was wrong and what the correct fact is, and does not need hunting for: at the top where the error was material, at the foot where it was small. We do not quietly edit a sentence and let the page stand as though it had always read that way.

Two things get fixed without a note: a typing slip that changes no meaning, and formatting, tags or a broken link. Everything above that line carries a note. Where the error was in the headline rather than the body, the note says so, because the headline is the part that travelled.

Developing stories, and what jumps the queue

A great deal of news is reported while it is still moving, and a fast-moving story gets things provisionally right and then more precisely right as the hours pass. We label a developing story as such, we timestamp our updates, and we treat a revised official figure or a corrected statement as an update to a story that was honest when written, not as a fresh error, provided we did not misreport the earlier version.

Some errors jump the queue. Anything that could affect a person’s safety, an error that puts a wrong figure into a market-sensitive or health-related story, or a wrong claim that damages a named individual, is handled the moment we can confirm the right version, ahead of everything else on the desk. Where an error has harmed a named person, we tell them the note is up rather than leave them to find it. Ordinary spelling, date and arithmetic slips are fixed in the normal run of the day.

Telling us we got it wrong, and what you hear back

Write to support@tltalkradio.org with CORRECTION at the front of the subject line. Give us the link, the sentence you are disputing, what you believe the correct fact is, and where that comes from if you have it. You do not need to be polite or explain who you are. The most useful message is the flattest: this sentence says X, the official record says Y.

You get an answer either way. If we change the story we tell you what the note says. If we do not, we tell you why, and sometimes the reason is that the dispute is about framing rather than fact. Safety and harm errors are settled fast. Everything else we aim to close the same working day and, at the outside, within two.

Chasing the error past our own page

A wrong fact does not stay on the page where it was born. When we correct something that has already travelled, the social post carrying it is corrected or taken down with an explanation rather than left up with the old version. A newsletter that carried the error runs the correction in the next edition. Where a story has been syndicated, we send the corrected copy and ask for the update, and because we cannot compel anyone, we say what we asked for and what is out of our hands. The forwarded screenshot is beyond reach entirely, which is the honest reason TL TALK RADIO would rather be right slowly than wrong quickly.

We do not delete stories

Articles get corrected and updated, not quietly removed. The address stays live, because deleting a page is a tidy way to lose an error along with the evidence of having made it. Requests to unpublish accurate coverage are refused, advertisers included, whose standing on this is spelled out on our advertise page. The exceptions are narrow: a binding legal order, a real risk to someone’s safety, or material published in error such as a draft. Where a page comes down for one of those reasons, a short note stays at the same address giving the category of reason.

Who signs off

Corrections are owned by the editor on duty rather than by the writer of the story, because no one should mark their own homework. Significant corrections are logged, and we go back through the log when the same species of error appears twice, because a repeated mistake is a process problem rather than one careless afternoon. How claims are tested before publication is in our fact-checking policy, and the wider account of how we work is on our about page. If you have found an error, do not wait for someone else to report it. Send the link and the sentence to support@tltalkradio.org.

Last updated: August 2026