Newspapers print corrections in the same place every day and do so for good reason: It serves the dual purpose of letting readers know exactly where to find corrections while also drawing attention to them.

The fact that corrections can be applied directly to the online version of a story does not free a publication of its duty to alert readers to the correction.

Please re-read the above sentence. It's very important. Sure, quick online fixes are great for anyone who reads the story after a correction is made, but no one goes back and re-reads all the previous day's online news trying to determine if a subtle (or obvious) detail has changed.

Every news site should have a corrections link listed prominently on the home page and, ideally, include it as part of the site's navigation. The corrections page itself should be updated daily. No ifs, ands or buts.

A quick look (and "find" search) at the sites of the top 100 U.S. newspapers^PDF reveals that the vast majority don't get this concept.

Only seven listed a link to corrections above the scroll. An interesting note: Four of the seven -- The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and Dallas Morning News -- are among the top 15 papers in the nation. Another 14 sites did provide a link to corrections below the scroll, but that leaves nearly 80 percent with no corrections page -- or at least no corrections page that's easy to find.

As for how corrections should be applied to individual stories... if a correction is only a minor detail and is listed on the corrections page, it is fine to simply change the text of the story.

If however, the correction is more substantial, the story should be left in its original published state with a corrections note posted above it. Why? If the story has been published, chances are it has been e-mailed to friends or posted, linked and commented on somewhere in the World Wide Web. It is not fair to the person, organization or estate which has been misrepresented for the correction to be "slipped in" and future readers left to discern where and whether the story has changed from the original version once the information on the corrections page has long been replaced.

Important details: The corrections on the corrections page should, of course, link to the original story. Ideally, you should highlight the corrected text (a la Google caching display) on the story. If a correction alert is needed above the original story, some explanatory text should target to the error in the original version.

• More good thoughts on this topic from Nathan Ashby-Kuhlman and Adrian Holovaty

March 6, 2003