State News Journal exists to report state news straight, and straight reporting includes admitting mistakes in the open. This page explains how errors are handled here.
What counts as a correction
A correction is required when a published story contains a material factual error: a wrong name, figure, date, title, quotation, location or sequence of events, or a mischaracterisation that changes what a reasonable reader would understand. Clarifications are issued when a story is technically accurate but easy to misread in a way that matters. Updates are labelled as updates when new verified information develops a continuing story.
How to request one
Send the story link, the specific statement you believe is wrong, and the evidence for the correct version through our contact page or to [email protected]. Requests that identify a specific error with supporting evidence are reviewed first. We do not correct stories on the basis of disagreement with analysis, framing or emphasis, but we read those messages too and they inform future coverage.
What happens next
A desk editor checks the claim against the primary sources used in the story and, where needed, the official record. If the error is confirmed, the story is corrected promptly, and a note is added at the point of correction stating what changed and when. There is no silent rewriting of the factual record: readers can always see that a correction was made. If the claim is not confirmed, we reply explaining what our sources show.
Significant errors
Where an error is serious enough to change the meaning of a story, the correction note is placed prominently, and the headline or social description is amended where necessary. In the rare case that a story's central claim proves wrong, the story is withdrawn and replaced with an explanation, rather than quietly deleted.
Timeliness
We aim to acknowledge correction requests within two business days and to resolve straightforward factual corrections quickly. Complex requests involving records or multiple sources may take longer; we will say so rather than leave a request unanswered.
State News Journal is published by 24World Media, 1411 N Sterling Ave, Palatine, IL 60067, United States.
Anonymous and informal complaints
Social media comments and anonymous messages are read, but formal correction requests with a story link and evidence receive priority because they can be verified fastest. If you are unsure how to phrase a request, simply state the sentence you believe is wrong and the document, record or firsthand knowledge that shows the correct version.
Corrections across the network
State News Journal is part of the 24World Media network. Where the same error appears in network material republished elsewhere, the publisher coordinates the correction so the record is fixed at the source and on syndicated copies alike, with each corrected copy noting the change.
Our record
We would rather publish one prompt, visible correction than defend a sentence we cannot stand behind. Readers who hold us to that standard make this newsroom better, and we thank them for it.
What we correct proactively
Our desks also correct errors we find ourselves, including after republication by partners, and we review older stories when official figures are revised. A story found to rest on a source that is itself withdrawn or retracted is reviewed the same day the withdrawal comes to our attention, and the story is updated, corrected or withdrawn with a note explaining the change.
Tone of this process
A correction request is never treated as an attack, and a confirmed correction is never treated as a defeat. The record our readers rely on matters more than any single day's embarrassment, and this page exists so that the process never depends on who is asking.
Review standard
A correction is made when the published statement was wrong at the time it was published, or when later official revision makes the original statement misleading in a way that matters to the record. Where sources reasonably disagree and the story attributed each side fairly, editors may add a clarifying note rather than a correction, and the note will say why.
