Slate’s mistakes for the week of Jan. 19.

Slate’s Mistakes for the Week of Jan. 19

Slate’s Mistakes for the Week of Jan. 19

Slate's mistakes.
Jan. 23 2015 4:02 AM

Corrections

Slate’s mistakes.

In a Jan. 23 Future Tense blog post, Megan Giller misspelled Tobago and the first name of Woodblock Chocolate owner Charley Wheelock. She also misstated that the Cocoa Research Centre has mapped the cacao genome. It has not; the chocolate company Mars and CIRAD have mapped two cacao genomes. Giller also misstated that material from the International Cocoa Genebank helped the cacao industry recover from the plant disease witch’s broom in the 1980s. It was genetic material bred by Trinidad’s Ministry of Agriculture that helped the cacao industry, specifically in Brazil.   

In a Jan. 23 Future Tense, Jessica Silbey misstated that she had conducted thousands of hours of interviews for her research on intellectual property incentives. It was hundreds of hours.

In a Jan. 23 Politics, John Dickerson misstated that Chuck Larson was backing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to be the 2016 Republican presidential nominee. Larson has not picked a candidate.

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Due to a production error in a Jan. 23 Sports Nut, the photo illustration’s caption misidentified the Vince Lombardi Trophy as the Heisman Trophy.

In a Jan. 22 Future Tense blog post, Will Oremus misstated that the Doomsday Clock had jumped forward from 11:43 to 11:57 in a span of 14 years. It was a span of 24 years.

In a Jan. 22 Slatest, Ben Mathis-Lilley misstated that Sheldon Silver is the chairman of the New York State Assembly. Silver is the assembly’s speaker.

In a Jan. 22 Slatest, Ben Mathis-Lilley misstated that Tom Brady did not notice that a set of footballs became heavier when reinflated to their proper level of air pressure. Though balls become heavier when inflated, it’s unlikely that the weight of such a small amount of air would be noticeable, and more likely that Brady noticed the balls had become harder.

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In a Jan. 22 Slatest, Beth Ethier misstated that there are 48 co-sponsors of a hemp legalization bill. There are 47.

In a Jan. 21 Moneybox blog post, Alison Griswold misspelled analyst Elliott Schlang’s first name.

In a Jan. 21 Moneybox blog post, Jordan Weissmann misspelled Slate contributor Jessica Grose’s last name.

In a Jan. 21 Slatest, Ben Mathis-Lilley misidentified Rand Paul as Ron Paul.

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Due to an editing error, a Jan. 20 Brow Beat misidentified where to find more clips from the premiere episode of The Nightly Show. The post links to Splitsider, not Deadspin.

In a Jan. 20 Brow Beat, Laura Putre misidentified the book section of the L.A. Times as the L.A Times Review of Books. She also misstated that Pamela Smith Hill started to talk to South Dakota press in 2005. Talks began in 2009. She also misidentified the press's best-seller prior to Pioneer Girl, which was Tatanka and the Lakota People: A Creation Story, not Taksuna: A Dakota Horse Legend. Finally, she misidentified the Facebook group “pioneergirl” as a different Laura Ingalls Wilder fan group, “Beyond Little House.”

In a Jan. 21 Brow BeatKaty Waldman misstated that Sarah Koenig never spoke directly to Jay Wilds. Koenig did speak to Wilds but didn’t obtain his permission to air the interview on Serial

In a Jan. 20 Bad Astronomy, Phil Plait misstated that Ceres and series are homonyms. They are homophones. He also misstated that there were two optical cameras on board Dawn, but the framing camera is the only imaging camera on the spacecraft.

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In a Jan. 20 Moneybox blog post, Alison Griswold misstated the approximate amount of money New York City lost to a shortfall in parking tickets in the latest week. It was $600,000, not $600 million. 

In a Jan. 20 Outward, Mark Joseph Stern and J. Bryan Lowder misstated that Barack Obama was the first president to use the word gay in a State of the Union address. Bill Clinton was the first, in 2000.

In a Jan. 20 Politics, John Dickerson misstated that President Obama has proposed raising revenue for his economic program by lowering the capital gains rate. He has proposed raising the capital gains rate.

In a Jan. 20 Slatest, Joshua Keating misspelled Adamawa, a Nigerian state.

In a Jan. 18 Vault, Rebecca Onion misstated the year that Martin Luther King Jr. won a Nobel Peace Prize. It was in 1964, not 1954.

In a Jan. 9 Atlas Obscura, Ella Morton misidentified a spiked club as a knife.

In a Jan. 9 Technology, Will Oremus misidentified Unreal Engine 4 as a video game. It is a suite of software tools for game developers.

Slate strives to correct all errors of fact. If you’ve seen an error in our pages, let us know at corrections@slate.com. General comments should be posted in our Comments sections at the bottom of each article.