15 Hilarious Newspaper Corrections

Newspapers work quickly, and mistakes can slip through the cracks—sometimes leading to epic corrections like the 15 listed below. To keep up with more typos and corrections (amusing or otherwise) bookmark Poynter’s Regret the Error.

1. “Known as ‘Alex From Target,’ Teenage Clerk Rises to Star on Twitter and Talk Shows,” The New York Times

The Correction: “An article on Thursday about the latest Internet sensation of ‘Alex from Target,’ a picture of a teenager bagging merchandise at the retailer that went viral online, described incorrectly a subsequent Internet posting of ‘Kel from Good Burger.’ It was a frame from the 1997 film Good Burger starring the actor Kel Mitchell; it was not a photograph of a teenager in a job.”

2. “Pigs Float Down the Dawson,” [PDF] The Morning Bulletin (Australia)

The Correction: “There was an error printed in a story titled ‘Pigs float down the Dawson’ on Page 11 of yesterday’s Bully. The story, by reporter Daniel Burdon, said ‘more than 30,000 pigs were floating down the Dawson River’. What Baralaba piggery owner Sid Everingham actually said was ’30 sows and pigs’, not ’30,000 pigs’. The Morning Bulletin would like to apologise for this error, which was also reprinted in today’s Rural Weekly CQ before the mistake was known.”

3. “NFL Player's Off-Season: Swapping Cleats for Yoga Mats,” Wall Street Journal

The Correction: “An earlier version incorrectly said Mr. Celek had Two Chairs on his playlist instead of 2 Chainz.”

4. “Hiroshi Yamauchi, Who Steered Nintendo to Dominance, Dies at 85,” The New York Times

The Correction: “An obituary on Sept. 20 about Hiroshi Yamauchi, the longtime president of Nintendo, included a quotation from a 1988 New York Times article that inaccurately described the Nintendo video game Super Mario Bros. 2. The brothers Mario and Luigi, who appear in this and other Nintendo games, are plumbers, not janitors.”

5. “Skin care's new favorite ingredient: hyaluronic acid,” Los Angeles Times

The Correction: “In a Sunday Image article about hyaluronic acid, a skin-care ingredient and injectable filler, Dr. Nowell Solish was quoted as saying that if people change their minds after receiving an injection, there is an anecdote. It should have quoted him as saying there is an antidote.”

6. “Your interview: Richard Robinson, Brighton Science Festival,” The Argus

The Correction: “We would like to clarify that the quote ‘I have become increasingly convinced that we are heading for a disastrous confrontation and that the 21st century will be remembered for a terrible war between mankind and goats' was a reader question and not a response from Mr Robinson. The next paragraph, ‘People often underestimate how dangerous a goat can be – I personally know six people who have become severely injured by goats, and the annual death toll racked up by goats is over 2,000,000’, is also a reader question and not a response from Mr Robinson. The Argus is happy to correct this and would like to apologise for the error.”

7. "Navigating Love and Autism," The New York Times

The Correction: "An article on Monday about Jack Robinson and Kirsten Lindsmith, two college students with Asperger syndrome who are navigating the perils of an intimate relationship, misidentified the character from the animated children's TV show My Little Pony that Ms. Lindsmith said she visualized to cheer herself up. It is Twilight Sparkle, the nerdy intellectual, not Fluttershy, the kind animal lover."

8. “Tampa Bay Comic Con offers speed dating for real characters,” Tampa Bay Times

The Correction: “In a story on Sunday about a speed dating event at Tampa Bay Comic Con, a Tampa Bay Times reporter not strong in the ways of the Force (or Star Wars lore) quoted moderator Croix Provence as asking, ‘Are you ready to find love in all the wrong places?’ What Provence actually asked was, ‘Are you ready to find love in Alderaan places?’ She was referring to Princess Leia Organa's home world, which appeared briefly in the 1977 film. Regret the error, we do.”

9. “A Definition, Please?," The Washington Post

The Correction: "A May 31 Metro article about the Scripps National Spelling Bee misspelled last year's winning word. The correct spelling is serrefine."

10. “What Would Mr. Roeper Say?,” The New York Times

The Correction: "An earlier version of a tweet in this column misstated the name of its writer. As her Twitter handle correctly noted, she is Jillian C. York, not Chillian J. Yikes! (That is a pseudonym she created for Halloween.)"

11. “Danielle Smith: Is she Alberta's Sarah Palin, or the future of Canada?,” The Globe and Mail

The Correction: "François Mitterrand, the former French president, is reported to have said that Margaret Thatcher had the mouth of Marilyn Monroe and the eyes of Caligula -- not Stalin, as reported in an earlier version of this article."

12. "Great Moments in History? Not So Much," The Miami Herald

The Correction: “A column by Glenn Garvin on Dec. 20 stated that the National Science Foundation ‘funded a study on Jell-O wrestling at the South Pole.’ That is incorrect. The event took place during off-duty hours without NSF permission and did not involve taxpayer funds.” (Note: The Miami Herald appears to have pulled most of Garvin's archive down, but the story was reprinted at the Cleveland Post, where you can read it in its entirety.)

13. “Odd Fellows,” The Virginian-Pilot

The Correction: "Because of an editing error, a story ('Odd Fellows') in the Sunday Magazine section about unusual relationships between animals incorrectly characterized interactions between Nikki the parrot and Mavish the cat. The parrot does talk and actually says, 'Give me a kiss!' when playing with the cat."

14. “Cracking the Code in ‘Heeere’s Johnny!,’” The New York Times

The Correction: “An earlier version of this article incorrectly described imagery from The Shining. The gentleman seen with the weird guy in the bear suit is wearing a tuxedo, but not a top hat.”

15. “Corrections: March 11, 2014,” The New York Times

The Correction: "An earlier version of these corrections misstated the date in which they appeared in print. They appeared on March 11, not March 10."

BONUS: “Waiting in the Wings,” Vogue

The Correction: “In the September profile of Chelsea Clinton, ‘Waiting in the Wings,’ by Jonathan Van Meter, Dan Baer was mistakenly identified as an interior designer. He is a deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State.” (via Huffington Post)