New York Times Ran 1,200-Word Front-Page Correction on Oliver North Testimony

2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 20

A 1,200-word correction published on July 13, 1987, marked one of The New York Times’ earliest front-page acknowledgments of a major reporting error, addressing its account of Oliver North’s Iran-contra testimony.
The unusually prominent remedy reflected a shift from brief, inside-the-paper corrections toward fuller explanations of significant lapses in fairness, balance or factual accuracy.
That change had begun in the early 1980s, when executive editor Abe Rosenthal created the “editors’ note” to amplify stories or rectify serious editorial failings.
Post-Watergate and post-Vietnam skepticism toward major institutions increased pressure on The Times to explain mistakes publicly, eroding the paper’s once-unquestioned authority.