Craig Silverman issues his 2009 collection of media errors and corrections

Once upon a time I wanted to be a journalist. I was given a chance in college and the discovery I made was that most journalists were hard-working stiffs like anyone, except their hours stunk (too many nights and weekends). They weren't the experts I expected them to be, either. Mostly they were cynics, tired of the endless droning of school board officials and city managers and wishing along with the rest of us that the retired gentleman with a question about item 4.1 (a), on the 27th page of the proposed town budget, would sit down so everyone could go home. I left the business uninspired - and so I could meet my friends at 10:00 p.m. for drinks.

I sold the industry short and obviously there are many journalists that have emerged as supremely knowledgeable in the fields they cover, but I've remained immune to arguments that the Internet can't be relied upon for the same levels of journalistic care and accuracy that exist offline.

All of which comes to mind thanks to Craig Silverman's 2009 collection of media errors and corrections that he has posted at the Huffington Post and his own site, "Regret the Error". It's an affable and entertaining look at media fallibility, and a good check against presumptions, old versus new.