The Sunday Times' prominent online correction

The Sunday Times has published an apology to Flight Lieutenant Owen Morris on its website, and displayed a prominent link to the correction on every article on its website.

The newspaper apologised for printing an inaccurate article about Flt Lt Morris and also revealed that it had paid him damages and legal costs.

Of particular interest to Full Fact however was one of the methods used to highlight the correction, which was prominently linked to on the sidebar of its website via a graphic titled "Flight Lieutenant Owen Morris — Apology", and at the time of writing is still visible.

The approach of the Sunday Times illustrates how the internet can ensure that the internet can be a great tool for raising standards of accuracy. A correction on every page would, of course, be impractical in print media, while online articles can be corrected swiftly and with appropriate prominence.

As Full Fact has found in the past, the standard of correcgtions online often leaves much to be desired. Web pages are often deleted rather than corrected, and sometimes inaccuracies remain online long after they have been corrected in print.

The Sunday Times has provided a great example of how online corrections can be done properly. It is hoped that this example sets a precedent that other newspapers will follow.