We’ve all done it at least once: hit “publish” before noticing an errant letter (or word) in a post headline.
Today it happened at the Washington Post, and Alex Howard noticed it.
Best Autocorrect Typo We Read Today RT @ezraklein Exclusive: Kathleen Sebelius on Obamacare’s ‘very tight’ deadliness http://t.co/28FX0V0IhM
— Alex Howard (@digiphile) July 26, 2013
It turned out, however, not to be autocorrect on Ezra Klein’s part.
@kegill not @ezraklein‘s mistake, as it turned out: https://t.co/vfmQpHFiPO
— Alex Howard (@digiphile) July 26, 2013
It was a typo in the original post. And that typo is part of the RSS feed, which is auto-generated.
So even though you correct the headline on the page, everyone who sees something that is based on that RSS feed … will also see the typo. (RSS feeds are usually editable, but most people don’t know that. Or know where it is. Or how to edit it.)
After you correct the headline, remember to also correct the URL. That’s still lacking at the Washington Post.
But the lesson is this: triple check your headline before publishing.
Typos are human: other examples
- June 2013 – shudder: the lesson taught in copy-editing journalism class (at least when I was in school)
- April 2013 – also appears to be headline-on-publish related: no space between “pen” and “is”
- December 2013 – a humorous one: substitute “is” for “it”
- July 2012 – irony from local TV news: “two” and “too”
