The Sidebar

UPDATE (9/26): Gordon informed me that on September 11 he sent Tribune standards editor Margaret Holt a courtesy follow-up e-mail to his September 4 corrections request (below), but has not received any communications from her or any other representative of the newspaper.

Gordon T. Pratt (source)

A November 2003 journalism conference at Vanderbilt University produced Focus On Accuracy, an article about how the Chicago Tribune handles corrections.

Here's a snip quoting Trib editor Margaret Holt.


Nice words, but as I reported on August 26, Actor David Hasselhoff says claims published in three Chicago Tribune articles are lies, but the paper refuses to publish a correction.

From 1993-2009, three Tribune articles falsely claimed the Baywatch star endorsed and served on the board of the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF), a Chicago nonprofit reportedly under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General for the "possible $9 million misappropriation" of federal and state tax dollars.

The Tribune editor who refused to correct the lies information her paper published about The Hoff?

Margaret "No Statute of Limitations on Errors" Holt.

[11/25/13 UPDATE ARTICLE BASED ON NEWLY-AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS: Why did actor David Hasselhoff lie to me about his role with a shady nonprofit now under investigation for "possible $9m misappropriation"? Based on this information, I've retracted my corrections request to The Tribune.]

So I e-mailed her an inquiry requesting an explanation for her decision, plus I reiterated a previous request that she provide me with a copy of the Tribune's corrections policy.

I discussed the situation with my friend Gordon Pratt of Milwaukee because he'd told me about a dreadful related encounter he'd had in 1995 with a Tribune reporter.

Here's the result -- click here to download a copy.