The public seems to find TV and movie bloopers hilarious and endearing, but it's safe to say that no such enthusiasm is lavished on the gaffes of journalists. And it's heartwarming to know that the famous headline is still giving assurance to Sun readers. Certain editors have been known to send the headline to people who complain that the paper doesn't carry enough positive news. One confident but verb-free deck of the Sun 's erroneous headline said towing great disabled liner into halifax. A few frantic radio operators who came upon the message in the middle of transmission assumed the report referred to Titanic and passed the word on.
All journalists know that it's never enough to get it wrong.
Those who do are expected to cluck over those who don't, so the New York Evening Sun ran a sidebar chiding The New York Times for publishing a ridiculous story that Titanic had sunk. The Wall Street Journal chimed in on a positive note, congratulating the builders of the ship for averting what might have been a serious accident. Garbled accident reports are hardly the worst reportorial sins. The worst always involve getting it wrong on purpose. The name of Walter Duranty comes up quickly.