Guide · Updated 13 November 2026

How news corrections work

Corrections, clarifications, updates and editor's notes each mean something different. Here's how newsrooms are supposed to use them, and how to ask for one.

The four common labels

• Correction: the story contained a factual error, such as a wrong name, number, date or quote, and it has been fixed. A good correction says what was wrong, not just that something was.
• Clarification: the facts were right but the wording could mislead, so it was made clearer.
• Update: new information was added as a story developed. Nothing was necessarily wrong.
• Editor's note: used for bigger problems, such as a story that fell short of the outlet's standards, a missing disclosure, or a story that was substantially revised or withdrawn.

What the standard says

Most newsrooms follow written standards, and many draw on the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics, which asks journalists to "acknowledge mistakes and correct them promptly and prominently" and to explain corrections and clarifications clearly (SPJ Code of Ethics). In practice, that usually means a note on the story itself, and at larger outlets a public corrections page as well.

Where to find them

• At the end, or sometimes the top, of the article itself.
• On the outlet's corrections page, often linked from the site footer or the "About" or "Standards" section.
• In the outlet's published standards or ethics policy, which explains how it handles errors.

How to request a correction

1. Find the outlet's corrections contact. Many list a dedicated email or form in their standards section; otherwise, write to the reporter or the editor responsible for that section.
2. Include the link, the exact sentence that's wrong, what's correct, and evidence: a public record, an official statement, or a primary source.
3. Be specific and brief. Outlets act fastest on clear, verifiable factual errors.
4. Keep a copy of the article as it was. Here's how.

When a fix happens without a note

Sometimes a story is changed in a meaningful way with no correction or note at all, often called a stealth edit. Usually it's an oversight rather than an attempt to hide anything, but readers can't tell the difference unless the change is visible. That's the record NewsFacts keeps.