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Mistakes: I Made a Few

By Jason Togyer
The Tube City Almanac
June 05, 2017
Posted in: Commentary-Editorial

When I make mistakes, I try not to waste my time with little ones. I try to make sure they're really dumb ones.

On Friday, I received a press release from the Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus about a letter, sent to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, urging the SPC and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to prioritize construction of the Southern Beltway over the northern leg of the Mon-Fayette Expressway.

I quickly wrote up a story and posted it Friday night.

On Saturday, I got a text message: "You have state Rep. Brandon Neuman listed as a Republican. He's a Democrat." I was at a wedding reception (congratulations Kelly and Nick!) but whipped out my phone and checked.

Well, I had assumed that because the Republican Caucus sent the press release, all of the people signing the letters were Republicans. Nope: Sure enough, Rep. Neuman is a Democrat. That was dumb of me.

But that's not all: I figured I had better Google all of the other names, just in case.

It turns out I also had state Rep. Pam Snyder listed as a Republican. Like Neuman, she's a Democrat. Really dumb of me --- and lazy for not checking in the first place.

So I corrected the party affiliations and updated the story.

Yesterday, I got a message from someone else: "You said 12 state representatives signed the letter. I only counted 11." Uh-oh. Really?

I looked at the letter again: Yep, I counted someone twice.

Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.

In general, here is the correction policy at Tube City Almanac:

  • When I or one of the other writers makes a mistake, we will always correct the mistake in the same place it was originally made. I hate it when a newspaper or magazine makes a mistake on the front page, and then corrects it several days later on an inside page. If the mistake was a front page mistake, I think it should be corrected on the front page.

  • Also, if the mistake was our fault, we apologize. No excuses or finger-pointing.

I apologize. I was sloppy and I was in a hurry to start my weekend. I am sorry for anyone who was confused and I apologize to the state representatives who were misidentified.

As for me being unable to count to 11 accurately, I am going to watch this video until I get things straight.

Originally published June 05, 2017.

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