Distinguishing Between Updates and Corrections
Launch library · evergreen read
An update adds new information to a story as events continue to unfold, while a correction fixes something that was actually wrong in what was previously published, and readers deserve to know clearly which kind of change they are actually looking at when they read the note.
Labelling changes accurately protects a publication from the appearance of quietly hiding a factual mistake inside what looks, on the surface, like routine ongoing coverage of a developing situation rather than an acknowledged, specific error. This matters particularly for stories that develop over an extended period, where the boundary between routine follow up and genuine correction can otherwise blur without anyone quite intending it to happen.
A simple, consistently applied labelling convention, used the same way across every piece regardless of how minor or major the change happens to be, makes this distinction clear to readers without requiring any special explanation each individual time the piece is actually used or referenced again.