Readers' Representative

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax to (213) 237-3535 or by mail to 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.


The Readers' Representative Journal -- a blog about newsroom practices and standards at the Los Angeles Times -- can be reached by clicking here.



For the Record

Elephant Hill: In Tuesday's Section A, a map with an article about the Los Angeles City Council agreeing to purchase property in El Sereno for a nature preserve labeled the area incorrectly. The area designated on the map as "New parkland" should have been marked "Elephant Hill." A 20-acre portion of that area was purchased for parkland. A corrected map is at right.

Carly Fiorina and HP stock: A Michael Hiltzik column in the Business section and a news article in Section A, both published Thursday, cited two different figures for the decline in Hewlett-Packard Co. shares during Carly Fiorina's tenure as its chief executive. The Hiltzik column said the stock fell 60%, and was based on the day of Fiorina's appointment and the last day she worked at the company. The news article cited a 49% drop, which included the day after her last work day -- when her resignation was announced -- as well as adjustments for stock dividends.

Accutane's side effects: An article in Saturday's Section A about the possibility of the acne drug isotretinoin, best known by the brand name Accutane, being taken off the market because of side effects misstated the results of a study that compared people with inflammatory bowel disease to people without the disease. The article said the study showed 1.2% of people diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease had used isotretinoin before diagnosis, compared with 1.1% who had not used isotretinoin. Instead, the study showed that 1.2% of people with inflammatory bowel disease had used isotretinoin before diagnosis, compared with 1.1% of people in the healthy group who had used the drug and not developed the disease.

Breeders' Cup: A photo caption on the front page of Saturday's Sports section identified the horse in the photograph as Zenyatta. It was not Zenyatta, but another horse working out at Santa Anita.

Exene Cervenka: A listing in "Happening Today" in Tuesday's Calendar section suggested that Exene Cervenka no longer performed with the band X. She is still the singer for X, and the band has local dates in December.

Ginzburg obituary: In Tuesday's Section A, the headline on the obituary of Vitaly Ginzburg said he was born in 1922. The Russian physicist, who played a key role in the Soviet Union's development of the hydrogen bomb and later won a Nobel Prize for his work on the theoretical underpinnings of superconductivity, was born Oct. 4, 1916.

High school football: A notebook in Sunday's Sports section said that Camarillo High quarterback Jeff Mathews had established a Southern Section record by passing for 594 yards during a win over Oxnard Hueneme last week. The record for passing yards in a game is held by San Bernardino High's Robert Fuller, who threw for 604 yards in a 2006 game.

"Fail-Safe": An article on Cold War films in Monday's Calendar section said that in the movie "Fail-Safe" missiles were headed for Moscow. In the film, bombs were headed for Moscow.

UCLA basketball: A chart in Tuesday's Sports section listed the Bruins' Pacific 10 Conference record under Coach Ben Howland as 75-32. The record under Howland is 76-32.

College football: A listing in Sunday's Sports section said the University of Texas record for 473 yards passing in a game belongs to Texas quarterbacks coach Major Applewhite. Applewhite does hold the record, from the 2001 Holiday Bowl against Washington, but he coaches running backs. The listing also said both touchdown passes in the Longhorns game went to Jordan Shipley, who had 11 catches for a school-record 273 yards. Shipley made 11 catches, but only one went for a touchdown. James Kirkendoll caught the other touchdown pass for Texas.

Pro football: An item in the Around the NFL report in Tuesday's Sports section said that the league was investigating an incident between Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall and Washington Redskins Coach Mike Smith. Hall is a cornerback for the Redskins and Smith is the Atlanta coach.

Mixed martial arts: An article in Tuesday's Sports section said Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem was from England. Overeem is from the Netherlands.

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers' representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.

For the record

Education grants: A Nov. 4 editorial referred to California's attempts to get its share of $4.2 million in new federal education grants. The correct figure is $4.2 billion.

For the Record

'The Art of the Steal': A Critic's Notebook in the Nov. 4 Calendar section about the film "The Art of the Steal: The Untold Story of the Barnes Foundation" incorrectly said the film shows that Pew Charitable Trusts Foundation President Rebecca Rimel gave false testimony in a court hearing. The film does not show that. The Times regrets the error.

Fox News: An Oct. 26 article in Calendar about how Fox News benefited from the White House's rebuke of its coverage said that in the two weeks after aides to President Obama criticized the cable channel, the network's viewership was 8% larger than the previous two weeks. In fact, only 11 days of ratings were available at the time the article was written, not a full two weeks. Data from the additional three days (including a weekend) show that the network's viewership rose 2% for the period.

MOCA: An article in Sunday's Arts & Books section about the Museum of Contemporary Art referred to "a Mark Rothko bull's eye" painting in the museum's collection. The painting is by Elaine Sturtevant, based on a target image by Jasper Johns.

Scene & Heard: The Scene & Heard column in some editions of Sunday's Image section contained incorrect figures for the amount of money raised at the Santa Monica Museum of Art's Halla Gala and at the Big Brothers Big Sisters Big Bash. The Halla Gala raised more than $400,000 for the museum, not $300,000. The Big Bash raised more than $1 million, not nearly $1 million.

Fork in road: An article in Saturday's Section A about a sculpture of a fork in Pasadena misspelled the name of Stephen Falk, an Eagle Rock man who was taking pictures of the artwork, as Steven Faulk.

Military jet: In Sunday's California section, an article about a jet that made several low altitude passes at Santa Monica Pier in November 2008 referred to the aircraft as Soviet-made. The jet was made in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s, when the country was one of the Soviet bloc countries, but not a part of the Soviet Union.

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers' representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.

For the Record

High school football: A photo caption in Saturday's Sports section misidentified a Crenshaw High School receiver as Michael Cunningham. It was Geno Hall.

Stacy Rowles: An obituary of jazz musician Stacy Rowles in Sunday's California section said she died Tuesday. She died Oct. 27.

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers' representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.

For the Record

Healthcare overhaul: An article in the Nov. 1 Section A that gave questions and answers about the House healthcare bill unveiled by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- San Francisco) said that the measure would exempt employers with yearly payrolls of less than $250,000 from providing health benefits to employees. Employers with annual payrolls of less than $500,000 would be exempted.



Cleveland bodies: An article in the Nov. 1 Section A about the discovery of several sets of human remains at a Cleveland home said that suspect Anthony Sowell is a convicted rapist. Sowell has been convicted of attempted rape.

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers' representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.

For the record

Martinis.

Martinis: An article last week about finding a good martini abroad incorrectly reported that the Hotel Okura in Tokyo was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright designed the Imperial Hotel, which was built from 1915 to 1922. It was dismantled in 1967. The Okura was designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi.

Barbados: A box accompanying an article last week on the culinary attractions of Barbados incorrectly gave the island's official tourism website as www.barbados.org. That website is actually www.visitbarbados.org.

For the record

Tanning products: In an article about tanning formulations in the Nov. 1 Image section, tanning technician Lisa Karadjian's last name was misspelled as Karadijian.

Scene & Heard: In the Scene & Heard column in the Nov. 1 Image section, Dennis Tito was identified as a former rocket scientist at Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is part of NASA and is managed by Caltech.

For the Record

Hockey: In Wednesday's Sports section, an article about the game between the Ducks and the Pittsburgh Penguins said that by beating the Ducks, the Penguins tied an NHL record with their seventh straight road victory to open the season. The Buffalo Sabres had 10 straight road victories at the start of the 2006-07 season.

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers' representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.

For the record

No Doubt lawsuit: An article in Business on Thursday about rock group No Doubt's lawsuit over its use in the video game Band Hero said Activision Publishing Inc., the game's maker, had not seen the complaint and therefore had no comment. That article was an early version; Activision had responded by Wednesday afternoon, and the company's statement was published on the Pop & Hiss blog at latimes.com. Activision said that the suit was "without merit" and that the company was "exploring its own legal options with respect to No Doubt's obligations under the agreement."

Mariah Carey: An article in Thursday's Calendar about Mariah Carey identified her latest album as "Confessions of an Imperfect Angel." The album's title is "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel."

Barbados: A box accompanying a Travel article Sunday on the culinary attractions of Barbados incorrectly gave the island's official tourism website as www.barbados.org. That website is actually www.visitbarbados.org.

Soldiers in Afghanistan: A caption with a photo in Wednesday's Section A with an article about Afghan President Hamid Karzai identified one of the soldiers as Army Lt. Thomas Goodwin. His name is Goodman.

Radio ratings: An article in Thursday's Calendar about the latest Arbitron radio ratings identified KRLA-AM as being at 1110 on the dial. It is at 870. Additionally, the article described KCBS-FM (93.1) as an oldies station. The station's format is called classic hits.

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers' representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.

For the record

Cleveland bodies: Articles in Section A on Sunday and Monday about the discovery of several sets of human remains at a Cleveland home said that suspect Anthony Sowell is a convicted rapist. Sowell has been convicted of attempted rape.

'Bling ring' suspect: An article in Section A on Oct. 29 about a series of burglaries at the homes of young celebrities twice misspelled suspect Jonathan Ajar's last name as Agar.

"V": The review of the TV series "V" in Tuesday's Calendar section referred to a character delivering a message in English, French and Egyptian. The language of Egypt is Arabic.

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers' representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.

For the record

H1N1 vaccine: An article in Tuesday's Section A on the struggle of healthcare workers to get scarce H1N1 flu vaccines reported that Mike Sicilia, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Health, said that California ranked healthcare workers as the third-highest-priority group for the vaccine, after pregnant women and caregivers of children under 6 months old. Sicilia now says that the state views all five priority groups equally. The two other priority groups are children and young adults ages 6 months to 24 years old, and people 25 to 64 with chronic medical conditions that put them at higher risk for flu complications.

Healthcare overhaul: An article in Sunday's Section A that gave questions and answers about the House healthcare bill unveiled by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said the measure would exempt employers with yearly payrolls of less than $250,000 from providing health benefits to employees. Employers with annual payrolls of less than $500,000 would be exempted.

Brett Favre: In an NFL column in Monday's Sports section, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre was quoted as saying, "It didn't seem weird until I got in near the pier," talking about his return to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. What he said was, "It didn't seem weird until I got in near De Pere," which is a town between Appleton and Green Bay.

Yemen attacks: An article in Section A on June 16 about Islamic extremists' attacks on foreigners reported that no Americans died in an attack outside the U.S. Embassy in Sana, the capital of Yemen, on Sept. 17, 2008. A teenager from Lackawanna, N.Y., was among those killed.

'V': The review of the television series "V" in Tuesday's Calendar section said the pilot was written by Kenneth Johnson and Scott Peters. As the writer of the original miniseries, Johnson was given a "story by" credit. Peters wrote the pilot.

NHL: An article in Tuesday's Sports section on the Kings' win over Phoenix on Monday night said it was the Kings' first victory in three games against the Coyotes. The Kings have won two of the three games.

Martinis: An article in Sunday's Travel section about finding a good martini abroad said that the Hotel Okura in Tokyo was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright designed the Imperial Hotel, which was built from 1915 to 1922. It was dismantled in 1967. The Okura was designed by Yoshiro Taniguchi.

'The Lovely Bones': An article in Sunday's Calendar section about the movie "The Lovely Bones" misspelled the first name of co-writer Philippa Boyens as Phillipa.

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers' representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.

For the record

Feces in cattle feed: In some editions of Saturday's Business section, an article about a campaign to ban chicken feces in cattle feed mistakenly omitted the word "banned" in the following sentence: " California allows the practice with one exception: Poultry litter is banned in feed for lactating dairy cows."

Nonprofit's wealthy owners: An article in Monday's Section A about a nonprofit company, Social Vocational Services, run by a Palos Verdes couple included a garbled sentence that should have read, "In 1999, the Dawsons arranged to sell SVS to ResCare Inc., a for-profit company headquartered in Kentucky." (The garble said "not sure you kno" in place of "ResCare.")

Roger Rees: A Quick Takes item in Saturday's Calendar said that Roger Rees canceled a spring tour of his one-man Shakespeare show, "What You Will." He did cancel appearances in Santa Barbara and Long Beach, as the item noted, but San Diego should not have been included. That engagement is still planned for the Old Globe, May 1 to June 6.

Lunar Lander Challenge: The secondary headline on an article in Saturday's Section A about private space companies competing in a $2-million rocket-launch contest said the competition was taking place in the New Mexico desert. It was in California's Mojave Desert.

Nicole Richie restraining order: A headline in Saturday's Section A, "Ritchie gets a restraining order against 2 paparazzi," misspelled the last name of Nicole Richie.

Tanning products: An article about tanning sprays in Sunday's Image section misspelled tanning technician Lisa Karadjian's last name as Karadijian.

Scene & Heard: An item in Scene & Heard in Sunday's Image section referred to "Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory." JPL is part of NASA and is managed by Caltech.

Commute times: Because of an error in processing census data, a graphic accompanying an article in Wednesday's Section A about Southern California commutes omitted several cities that rank among the top 20 for longest average commute times. Also, as a result of the omissions, the following nine cities were incorrectly included in the list: Bell, Cerritos, Covina, Fontana, La Mirada, Pico Rivera, Rialto, Temple City and Yorba Linda. A corrected table appears here.

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers' representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.

For the record

Young diabetic: An article in the Oct. 26 Health section, about a young girl with diabetes, recounted an experience in which she felt shaky, tested her blood glucose, found it to be higher than normal and then took a glucose tablet. In fact, her blood glucose was lower than normal, not higher, resulting in the shaky feeling and the need for a glucose tablet. Such a tablet wouldn't be given for high blood glucose.

For the record

Bill Dwyre column: A column in the Oct. 25 Sports section on how TV money is affecting baseball's postseason scheduling said, "From 1969 through 2006, World Series Game 1 was on a Saturday." From 1977 through 1984 and in 1990, the Series started midweek. (Also, the Series was canceled in 1994, and in 1996 rain delayed Game 1 from Saturday to Sunday.)

Denver Broncos: In the Oct. 25 Sports section, the NFL column for Week 7 said that the 6-0 Denver Broncos had a road win over New England and Coach Bill Belichick. The Broncos' victory over the Patriots was at home in Denver.

Western Conference preview: In the Oct. 25 Sports section, the Western Conference preview for the NBA season said the Utah Jazz was 48-24 last year. Utah was 48-34.

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers' representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.

For the record

Roy DeCarava obituary: The obituary of art photographer Roy DeCarava in Thursday's Section A misstated the first name of Peter Galassi, a curator at New York City's Museum of Modern Art, as Jonathan.

"Dilbert" cartoon strip: "Dilbert" was inadvertently omitted from Thursday's Business section. The comic's Thursday strip appears on Page B2 along with today's.

World Series: A World Series schedule in Sports on Thursday said Saturday's Game 3 would be the Phillies at the New York Yankees. Game 3 will be in Philadelphia.

"The Twilight Zone": In Wednesday's Calendar, the Classic Hollywood column about "The Twilight Zone" said series creator Rod Serling wanted Ray Bradbury as a writer but "that didn't work out," suggesting that Bradbury never wrote for the show. The reference was intended to be to the inception of the series in 1959; Bradbury did in fact write an episode that aired in 1962, "I Sing the Body Electric."

If you believe that we have made an error, or you have questions about The Times' journalistic standards and practices, you may contact Jamie Gold, readers' representative, by e-mail at readers.rep@latimes.com, by phone at (877) 554-4000, by fax at (213) 237-3535 or by mail at 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. The readers' representative office is online at latimes.com/readersrep.
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