Some say…

A journalese Law of Exaggeration requires a reporter to find an oddball, get a quote, and start the story, “Some say…” A perfect example was The Boston Globe’s page one story Dec 12, 2016, that had this headline and subhead: “Monday night at Gillette? They’re punting. Some diehard fans opt to watch Patriots from comfort of home.” The story quoted five fans, three from New Hampshire, who were not going to make the trip to the Foxborough, Mass., stadium. Anyone at the game or watching on TV would have a tough time finding an empty seat among the stadium’s 68,756 seats. The next day, the egg-on-faced Globe ran the following:

“Correction: Because of an editing error, a Page One story Monday about the reluctance of Patriots fans to attend Monday night football games mistakenly implied the status of the game against the Baltimore Ravens. All Patriots home games have been sold out since 1994. The Globe regrets the error.”