How to Ask a Journalist for a Correction (and When Not To)

To ask a journalist for a correction, email the reporter who wrote the piece, quote the exact sentence that's wrong, give the correct fact with a source they can verify, and ask for a specific fix. Keep it short, calm and private. Editors correct factual errors: wrong numbers, wrong names, misattributed quotes. They generally won't change a fair but unflattering angle, a headline you dislike or an analyst's opinion, and asking them to damages the relationship.

The hardest part is being honest with yourself about which of those two you're looking at.

Is it a factual error or just framing you don't like?

Start here, before you write anything. When a founder sends me a piece that "got it wrong," it often turns out the facts are right and the framing hurts. Those need completely different responses.

A factual error is something that can be shown to be false with a document, a transaction or a public record. Your raise was $6M, not $60M. Your co-founder's name is spelled wrong. A quote attributed to your CEO came from someone else. The protocol launched on Arbitrum, not Optimism.

Framing is the reporter's judgement about what matters. They led with your token price instead of your product. They quoted a critic. They called your launch "delayed" when you'd call it "phased." You may disagree, and you may even be right, but that's editorial judgement, and it belongs to the outlet.

I understand the frustration. I've felt it about how crypto gets covered in general.

shouldn't they cover everything neutrally and maintain high ethical standards? Shilika Jain on X, 27 Oct 2023

But a correction request isn't the tool for that frustration. It's a tool for fixing facts.

What will editors change, and what won't they?

This is the decision table I use with clients before anyone contacts the outlet. I call it the correction triage.

Notice how many rows end in "nothing." That's deliberate. The fastest way to get your future emails ignored is to treat the bottom half of this table like the top half.

How do you write the correction request?

Short, specific, verifiable. I use a four-sentence structure:

1. Thanks and context. One line thanking them for the piece, so the tone is clear from the start.
2. The exact error. Quote the sentence as published, word for word.
3. The correct fact and the proof. State it plainly and link a source they can check without asking you: an on-chain transaction, a filing, the original announcement, a recording.
4. The specific ask. Ask them to update the figure, not to "fix the article."

An example, for a made-up project:

Thanks for including us in today's piece on restaking. One small thing: the article says we raised $60M, but the round was $6M, as in our announcement here [link]. Would you be able to update the figure when you get a chance? Happy to help with anything else on the story.

That's it. No adjectives about how damaging it is, no copy of your CEO, no lawyer.

Send it to the reporter first, within a day of publication if you can. Reporters generally prefer to fix their own errors, and going over their head on a first contact tends to sour things. If you've had no reply after two or three working days and the error is material, a polite note to the section editor, with the reporter copied, is reasonable. Many established outlets also publish a corrections contact or policy, so check it before you escalate.

What mistakes burn the relationship?

These are the ones I see most, and each can cost you more than the original error did:

• Calling it an error when it's an angle. Reporters can tell instantly, and it makes them less likely to act on your next genuine correction.
• Asking for a rewrite. You can ask for a fact to change. You can't ask for the piece to be re-angled.
• Going public first. Quote-tweeting the article with "this is false" before you've contacted the reporter turns a quiet fix into a public fight. Even if you're right, the reporter will remember.
• Threatening legal action over a fixable error. If something is genuinely defamatory, that's a matter for lawyers. For a wrong number, it's wildly out of proportion and ends the relationship.
• Sending multiple people from your team. One person contacts the outlet. Not the CEO, the head of marketing and three community managers.
• Demanding the piece be taken down. Outlets very rarely unpublish, and asking signals you don't understand how newsrooms work.

The reason to be careful is that you'll need this reporter again. Reporters work for their readers and editors, not for you, a point I make at length in Journalists Are Not on Your Payroll, and a correction request only works when it respects that.

It takes years to build reputation and credibility! One wrong move and boom, everything's into the ashes! Shilika Jain on X, 19 May 2023

That's true of your reputation with your community, and just as true of your reputation with a newsroom.

What if they won't correct it?

Sometimes the outlet reviews your request and decides the original wording stands. If it's a framing question, that's their call and you should let it go.

If it's a clear factual error and they still won't fix it, you have quieter options than a public fight:

• Publish the correct figure in your own channels, in a neutral tone, without naming the outlet.
• Make sure the right fact is easy to find on your site and in your press kit, so the next reporter gets it right.
• Note it in your media tracker and think carefully about how you brief that outlet next time.

This is where owning your story pays off.

It's very important to control your story and actively shape it before it's lost! Shilika Jain on X, 10 Feb 2023

Most errors I've seen come from unclear source material, not careless reporting. If your announcement buried the raise size in paragraph six, or your deck used two different user numbers, the reporter picked one. Fix the source and you prevent the next error. Good Web3 PR campaigns start with a fact sheet everyone briefs from.

How do you prevent errors before publication?

You can't approve a story before it runs, and you shouldn't ask to. That's a separate topic I cover in whether founders can review an article before publication. What you can do is make errors less likely:

• Send a one-page fact sheet with the exact figures, names, titles and dates, in writing, after every interview.
• Spell out names and token tickers that are easy to confuse.
• Offer to confirm any figures if the reporter wants to check them.
• Brief from the same numbers across every outlet so nothing conflicts.

When the error is part of a bigger negative story, a correction request isn't enough on its own. That's crisis territory, and my crypto crisis communications playbook is a better starting point.

FAQ

How quickly should I ask for a correction?

Within a day of publication if possible. Errors get copied by aggregators and other outlets quickly, so an early fix limits how far the wrong fact travels. A late request is still worth sending if the error is material.

Will the correction be noted publicly?

It depends on the outlet and the size of the error. Material factual changes are often marked with a correction or update note, while small fixes like a spelling may be made quietly. You can ask, but the outlet decides.

Can I ask the journalist to remove a quote I gave?

If the quote is accurate and you gave it on the record, generally no. If it was misattributed or misquoted, yes, that's a factual error. This is why agreeing on terms before you speak matters so much.

Should my PR person or the founder send the correction?

Usually whoever has the relationship with the reporter, which is often the PR lead. If the founder was interviewed directly and has a good rapport with the reporter, a short personal note can work well. Just make sure only one person sends it.

If a story got your numbers wrong, talk it through with me before you hit send, so the fix doesn't cost you the reporter.